Rogue
by Rogue Leader Solo
Summary: A young orphan martial artist boy goes on a school field trip and comes back with an extrodinary power. He is the last survivor of an ancient continent, the heir to its power. And he intends to use his powers. He had become a hero who calls himself Rogue!
1. A Hero is Revealed

**Chapter 1: A Hero is Revealed**

Year 22XX Location: America

Jack Martin looked out the window of the Wave Liner Express as he and his classmates rode on a train created entirely out of electromagnetic waves and sighed. He was eighteen, slightly taller than average height, with long white hair that was always dyed black, hair that refused to stay combed, ice blue eyes, and carried himself with a sense of determination. Jack sat alone, but that was fine with him, he had no real friends and preferred to be alone. The only person that he felt close to was Jango Martin, his martial arts sensei, and the man who had raised him. Jack was an orphan, he didn't even know if "Jack" was his real first name. Jango had found him on his doorstep one night and had taken the abandoned kid in. Jack was a martial arts protégée thanks to Jango's long and hard lessons. He was also a computer wiz and when he wasn't training or studying for school, Jack was always in the garage tinkering with some machine or computer. In fact, thanks to Jack's tinkering, the martial arts dojo had become a serious training ground for those with the real drive to become martial artists. He had built traps with motion sensors from scrap and even installed an automated defense robot that was programmed so well that it could take on about two dozen opponents at a time with ease. Jango had been impressed with his young protégée's skill and had given him the newest model of personal communication at the time: an electronic cell phone, which doubled as a computer designed to be worn on the wrist, called a Transer. These days the latest model of personal communication was a hand held device that had all the functions of the Transer and had a few new features as well, called the Star Carrier. The Star Carrier had an application that allowed it to create things out of Electro-Magnetic Waves. But Jack had decided not to give up his Transer; instead he had modified his Transer to have the same functions as a Star Carrier.

Jack checked the time on his Transer, then looked out the window and sighed again. Today he and his class were going to visit a research lab as a school field trip. The lab they were visiting researched new ways to manipulate Electro-Magnetic (EM) Waves to help humans. Jack was eager to visit but his training allowed him to completely mask his emotions. Soon they reached the lab. As he disembarked from the train, a tall thin man wearing a white lab coat led him and his class to the lab's entrance. Soon the tour commenced. Jack soon grew bored and fell to the back of the group. The guide was talking about stuff that he already knew. As the tour ended the guide started asking them questions about EM Waves, naturally Jack answered all of them correctly and fired a few questions of his own at the man, who was caught off guard by the complicated questions that a mere twelfth grader was asking him. He gave answers that didn't satisfy Jack's curiosity though which prompted more questions. Unknown to Jack however, two people were watching the whole scene that was being recorded on security cameras.

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"That boy is remarkable." The man said to the woman, "He might be a suitable test subject. What do you think?"

"He is indeed remarkable." The woman replied, "He will make an excellent test subject for our project. Tell that fool Skyler to go get that boy, tell him anything. That boy must not leave, tell them that he has been selected to stay here for a day, anything but he must not leave, even if it means resorting to cruder methods."

"Sure Doc. He'll be on that table in an hour." The man said as he walked out of the room to talk to Skyler, leaving the woman to stare hungrily at the view screen image of Jack.

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As he was just about to board the EM wave train, Jack's martial arts training sensed that someone was coming up behind him. He turned around to see a medium height man who was slightly over weight in a white lab coat, walking towards him with two men in guard uniforms. Jacks attention was mainly focused on the guards because they looked like they were waiting for any excuse to attack. One of the guards was tall and looked like he worked out every chance he got, the other guard was short but stocky, and both were glaring at Jack with looks that plainly said _you'd better watch yourself_. Slowly and casually, Jack dropped into a very subtle, but prepared Martial Arts stance, one that would only be obvious to a trained expert.

The scientist himself was of average height, had brown eyes, wore square-framed glasses, and had dark brown hair. His skin was paler than norm but not unnaturally so. His walk was not that of a trained martial artist and therefore was not deemed much of a threat. On the contrary, the man looked as if he spent more time indoors at a lab station than anything else. Jack's observations took less than a minute but it was enough time for the man in the lab coat to have stopped directly in front of Jack with a friendly smile on his face.

"Jack Martin?" the man inquired. When Jack nodded the man said, "I am Dr. Skyler and I have a question for you."

"What is it?" asked Jack in a guarded tone, keeping one eye on the guards and one on the man calling himself Dr. Skyler.

"One of my colleagues overheard your conversation with the tour guide and noticed that you appeared dissatisfied with his responses. We feel that you deserve to have your questions answered. If you will come with me, all your questions will be answered. What do you say?" The man asked.

"Well I'd like to but my class has to leave now." Jack replied.

"Oh that's no problem, we will arrange for you to be taken home afterwards," Dr. Skyler quickly stepped aboard the train and whispered something to Jack's teacher who nodded. Dr. Skyler stepped off the train, which moved away. "If you'll follow me you can see the answers to your questions with you own eyes." Jack nodded and walked with Dr. Skyler back into the lab building and followed him into an elevator. The doctor placed his hand onto a hand scanner and spoke in a clear voice, "Dr. Skyler and guest requesting permission to Laboratory EM-1."

A mechanical voice answered, "Voice pattern confirmed. Access approved." With a small jolt the elevator began to rapidly descend.

"Where are we going Doc?" inquired Jack.

"Dr. Skyler smiled, "To the personal laboratory of myself and my colleague, who will meet us at the lab." With a small bump the elevator stopped. A bell chimed and the doors slid open. As the two disembarked Dr. Skyler announced, "Welcome to my laboratory!"

Jack gasped in amazement; the laboratory was enormous filled with machines of all sizes and shapes. As he stood looking around the lab in amazement Jack noticed that a tall woman in a lab coat was walking towards them, she had long brown hair and brown eyes, but what caught Jack's attention were the two rough looking guards flanking her. Something wasn't right. Again, Jack started to casually drop into his subtle Martial Arts stance. The woman and the guards stopped in front of Jack and Dr. Skyler.

Skyler smiled, "Jack, this is my colleague Dr. Jade. She is the one responsible for all of the experiments that you see around here."

Dr. Jade smiled a smile that Jack didn't trust for an instant, "You give me too much credit Skyler. So, Jack I understand that you are interested in Electromagnetic Wave interaction."

Jack nodded, "Not to brag but I'm considered the class expert on that particular subject."

"Well, currently we are working on an experiment or two in that area, would you like to see it?" Dr. Jade asked.

Jack grinned, "I sure would."

"Then please follow me." Dr. Jade turned and walked to a large computer. She typed something on the keyboard and the display screen suddenly showed lots of graphs and data files. Dr. Jade opened a file that was titled **EM-0WB: Electromagnetic Wave Being**. The screen displayed an incredibly large amount of data in the form of charts and other kinds of information. "I am nearly finished with this project." Dr. Jade explained, "I'm attempting to create an artificial Electro-Magnetic Wave life form. I should be finished within three months. Now this next project should be particularly interesting to you." She selected one that was titled **EM-1T: Electromagnetic Wave Transforming**. The screen showed more data, most of it was in waves of numbers. "I'm currently working on a way for humans to enter the EM spectrum at will." Jade said with pride, "But I've hit a snag."

"What kind of snag?" Jack inquired as he looked at the data, failing to notice that one of the guards had taken out a small device and was aiming it at Jack's body.

Jade smiled an evil smile behind Jack's back, "One that is about to be overcome."

Suddenly Jack had a bad feeling, "What do you-" Just then the guard fired a small dart that struck Jack and rendered him unconscious before he had a chance to react.

"Well done." Dr. Jade said to the guards, "Now put him in the chamber and we can begin."

"What are you doing Jade?!" Skyler demanded, "Kidnapping and illegal experiments were NOT part of our agreement!"

"Shut up unless you want to join him!" Jade snapped, "I'm altering the deal. Now come on we need to begin Phase One." Skyler reluctantly gave in and followed her

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Unfortunately for the scientists, Jack's training had made his body more resistant to all forms of unknown substances. Slowly he regained consciousness, "What happened?" He wondered aloud and tried to move only to discover that he was strapped down to some sort of operating table inside a white room with only one window set high up on the wall in front of him. "What the heck is going on?"

"You awakened ahead of my predictions." Dr. Jade's voice stated over a loudspeaker, "That is unfortunate but it makes no difference."

Jack looked through the window and saw her and Skyler, "Dr. Jade, I don't understand, what the hell's going on?"

Jade laughed, "Remember what I said about a snag in the experiment? The snag was that I had no test subject."

"What about the guards? Or the other scientists?" Jack asked.

"Why diminish security or put assistants in danger? But I guess you have a right to know. This project is being funded by a very powerful organization that feels an army on EM humans is the best way to get their demands met." Jade answered with a shrug, "This project is of the utmost secret, not even the other scientists or company president know of this project, so it would be unwise for us to use anyone who is known around this place. You however are not known here and you are expendable." Jade laughed.

"Enough talk," Jade snapped, "It's time to begin. Start the scan."

Skyler reluctantly started to type on the keyboard muttering, "I'm sorry kid." A red wave of light went up and down Jack. In the control room Skyler suddenly frowned, "Jade, you might want to have a look at this."

Jade stepped over and looked at his screen and frowned as well, "What is this?" On the display the scan of Jack showed an abnormality, a dark purple light surrounded his image. A message appeared on the screen: "**SUBJECT IS CAPABLE OF PREFORMING EM WAVE CHANGE ON ITS OWN**" "Skyler try to pinpoint the source of this," Jade said, "I'm going to try and transform him."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," replied Skyler already typing on the keyboard. His thoughts however were different, '_Come on kid! Get out of there!_'

Jade punched a few keys and inside the experiment room, yellow rays shot out and pierced Jack's body. Jack screamed in pain. Something was happening to his body; it felt like something was being wrenched up from the core of his body to the surface. Suddenly, he lost consciousness.

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Jack woke up to a strange voice, "_Wake up Solo, wake up Solo._"

Jack stood up and looked around for the source of the voice. He was standing in a place that was white, but with a purple tinge. "Where am I?" he asked.

"_That isn't important, Solo. What is important is that I have awakened_." The strange Voice said.

"Where are you?" Jack asked looking around for the source of the voice, "And why are you calling me, Solo?"

"_I am right behind you Solo._" The Voice answered, Jack spun around to see a being of sorts that was deep violet in color, with no shape. "_I call you Solo, because that is your real name._"

Jack was fascinated, "Who are you?"

"_I am your power._" The Voice replied, "_The ability that all descendants of Mu have._"

Jack was confused, "Are you talking about the lost civilization?"

"_Yes_."

"And I'm a descendant of it?"

"_Yes, but you are the last living Murian._"

"This must be a dream," Jack thought, "This is crazy"

"**_THIS IS NO DREAM,_**" The Being thundered, "**_YOU ARE THE LAST LIVING DESCENDENT OF THE MU CIVILIZATION! I HAVE BEEN ASLEEP IN YOU, WAITING FOR THE RIGHT TIME TO AWAKEN!_**"

Jack involuntarily stepped back, "I'm sorry! It's just so hard to believe. I meant no disrespect."

The Being appeared to calm down, "_I understand. You are scared. You never knew your parents and have always been alone so your reaction is natural. But you are the only human who has this power. I think that now is the time for you to use your power to escape, Solo. I will tell you how and help you until you have mastered it._"

Jack was relieved, "But how do I activate this power of mine?"

The Being rumbled with laughter, "_Solo, it is time to let go of you fear and your unwillingness to accept your true name. To activate your abilities, yell out this phrase for now: "_**_EM WAVE CHANGE SOLO ON AIR"_**_ Eventually you will only need to say "_**_WAVE CHANGE" _**_to transform. It is time to return Solo. And time to escape!"_

"WAIT!" Jack yelled as the Being started to fade away. "HOW DO I ESCAPE!?"

"_I will tell you what to do, Solo._" The Being answered, "_Be ready._"

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Jack's eyes snapped open and saw two huge men standing over him, "He's awake, Doctor." one said.

"Good," said Jade's voice over the loudspeaker, "So, Jack how do you feel?"

Jack snarled and snapped at her, "I'll get you for this!"

"_It is time Solo, yell out the phrase I told you._" The Being's voice said.

Jack yelled, "EM WAVE CHANGE! SOLO ON AIR!" A column of purple-white light surrounded Jack causing Dr. Jade and Dr. Skyler to jump and cover their eyes. The two guards however were thrown back against the walls. The purple light vanished. Blinking Jade and Skyler looked at where Jack was strapped down, or where he was previously strapped down, for he was now standing on top of the table and he looked very different; his whole body, aside from his head, was encased in black, his right hand was covered in purple white flames with a grey wristband on his wrist, a red symbol that looked like two stylized "F's" facing each other with a small box between the top prongs was on his chest, his legs from the knees down were encased in black armor, His shoulders had red armor plates on them, on his head was a kind of half-helmet; it was open at the back where white hair stuck out, the front part was black except for two symmetrical red lines, his eyes were covered by a see through light blue material in the shape of an X. The two guards shakily got to their feet, staring at Jack.

"W-what happened?" Skyler stammered, unable to believe his eyes.

Jade was stunned, "Amazing, he transformed into an EM being on his own," she whispered, "This is unprecedented, we must experiment further." To the guards she barked out an order, "GET HIM!"

The guards approached warily and suddenly jumped at Solo. As they jumped, the strange voice said, "_Now for your training Solo. Jump over them._" Solo obeyed and leaped over the heads of the guards and landed six feet behind them. "_Now for your attacks, stay where you are, focus energy into your right hand, and punch the ground. This attack is called Shock Wave._" Solo complied and to everyone's surprise; purple shock waves appeared on the floor and slammed into the guards, sending them flying into the wall and knocking them out cold. "_In this form you can change your EM frequency at will, this will allow you to travel on the Wave Road and walk through solid objects like walls. Simply will the change and it will happen._" Solo changed frequencies and walked through the walls into the control room.

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"Where did he go?" Jade demanded as she furiously looked for the boy, "He was there a second ago."

"Try looking right behind you," Solo's voice came from behind them.

Both scientists wheeled around to find the person they thought was Jack Martin standing behind them. Jade started to speak, "Now Jack I know that you must feel angry but please understand that…"

"Save it!" Solo snapped, "I'm not interested in your excuses. I told you that I'd get you." Suddenly Solo sprang into action. He leaped at Skyler and delivered a right and left hook, a right side upper cut and back-flipped in place while kicking Skyler in the face.

As Skyler crumpled to the floor, Jade pressed a secret alarm button and a silent alarm sounded. Solo whirled around and knocked Jade aside with a backhand that had the demented woman seeing stars and began to destroy the computer as Jade stared in horror. "What are you doing?" she screamed.

Solo changed frequency, but only enough to put his right arm through the computer. Still visible, he tore out the main computer chip and crushed it. "I have destroyed your data. You won't be performing any more "experiments" for a long time, Dr. Jade," He said as mechanical guards poured into the room.

Jade pointed at him and screamed, "STOP HIM! HE'S BECOME A ROGUE EXPERIMENT!"

"_The Shockwave attack won't take all of them out._" The voice said, "_This attack will take care of them. It is called Flying Knuckle. To execute it simply focus your energy into your right hand and punch in front of yourself with your right fist._" Solo punched and multiple versions of his right fist flew out and slammed into all the guards causing them to explode. "_Well done, Solo!_" The voice said, "_Now it is time to leave._" Solo changed frequency and vanished from the visible spectrum. As he traveled on the wave road the voice said, "_You also have a sword, to draw it out, simply think about it, hold your left hand out in front of you and the hilt will appear in the center of your palm, grasp it with your right hand and draw it out but now is not the time. You will also be able to see the EM world in your human form now that your powers have been unlocked. The rest of your abilities, you must discover on your own, for I have nothing left to teach you. Farewell Solo, Last of the Murians._" The voice faded and vanished.

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Solo soon reached home; Jango Martin's dojo, which was at the base of a mountain, set away from the rest of the town. He reverted back to his human self and was about to walk inside when he noticed that the dojo's symbol was the same one that was on his chest in his EM form! He walked inside; "Jango, I'm home!" he called out.

Jango walked in, "You're late. Did something happen?" he asked. Jango was of medium height, short black hair, a kind but hard face and, brown eyes that looked as if they could stare right through you.

Solo nodded, "Yes, but before I tell you about it, can I ask you something?"

Jango looked quizzical but nodded. "What do you want to know?"

"What does the symbol of the dojo mean? You never told me." Solo asked.

Jango sighed, "Well I guess it's time you knew. Come on into the kitchen and I'll tell you everything." Solo followed his teacher into the kitchen and sat down opposite Jango, "The symbol of our dojo is an ancient symbol, and it is the family crest of the Murian royalty. Now many people don't believe in the lost continent of Mu, but it exists, or did exist a long time ago."

"What do you mean? What happened?" Solo asked.

"About a millennia or two ago, something happened that caused Mu to vanish completely. Nobody knows exactly what happened. But what ever it was, it was enough to cause the whole continent to disappear. Anyway, some members of the royal family managed to escape along with some of their most loyal protectors. They were able to escape and mix with modern society. The Royal family managed to survive and pass on their legacy to their descendents. I am very distantly related to a descendant of the royal family protectors. In fact most of the Martial Arts I teach come directly from the techniques of the protectors." Jango explained, "Now what I have to tell you next may be a shock."

Solo cracked a smile. "I think I can handle it."

Jango sighed. "I hope so. You remember how I found you, just a small child on my doorstep. Well that's not entirely accurate. You parents were great friends of mine. The night you were entrusted to me, they were being hunted by an organization that was and maybe still is determined to find the lost continent of Mu and use its power to rule the planet. Your parents were the last descendants of the Royal family of Mu. You are the heir to their power. You must think I'm crazy, but your parents knew that they were being hunted and entrusted me to look after their only son, who they named Solo. I always called you Jack to protect you. Your parents tried to escape, but were killed. I watched it. They were ruthlessly interrogated about Mu's whereabouts but refused to give in and were killed. I moved out here, where no one knew your parents or me, to hide you from the murderers. But I always kept the symbol and something for you that your parents left for you to have when you were old enough. Here it is." Jango took out a small data chip and handed it to Solo. "This chip contains the Murian battle cards they used to fight in their battles against EM viruses. That is a one of a kind collection. They are the only thing left of them. Download it into your Transer." As Solo did so Jango said, "All of the Murians had a unique ability; they could enter the EM world. I'm not sure how to perform it, but your parents called it the EM Wave Change."

Solo slowly said. "You're not crazy, Jango. I've done an EM Wave Change."

Jango suddenly sat up very straight. "What? When did you do that?"

Solo sighed. "You know that today, my class went on a field trip to an EM research laboratory. Well after the tour, a man approached me and invited me to take a look at his personal lab. He squared it with my teacher and took me to a secret lab that only he and his colleague knew about. As they were showing me their latest project, one of their guards, knocked me unconscious. When I woke up, I was in some kind of testing room, they scanned me but just as the experiment began, something happened, I was suddenly in a different place where some kind of being told me my real name and how to perform an EM Wave Change. I did it and escaped the lab after destroying their main computer."

Jango looked curious. "Show me, Solo."

Solo nodded and stood up and shouted. "EM WAVE CHANGE! SOLO ON AIR!"

There was a flash of purple light. When it cleared, Jango gasped. Solo stood before him in his EM form. "Incredible!" Jango whispered. Then he said. "Well Solo, I think the only thing to do for now is continue to live as before. It would look too suspicious, if we did anything else." Jango explained. "But we should make preparations for any… uninvited guests. I have the time because nobody is showing up for class these days. I heard that a Virus Busting Tournament is going on later this week, why don't you enter? It'll give you a chance to tryout your new Battle Cards."

Solo smiled, "Sure, I won't even use them until the tournament."

Jango also smiled, "Well then, we start tomorrow! Go get some sleep."

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The next day when Solo arrived at school wearing a hood to conceal his white hair, a kid from his grade approached him, "Hey Jack, What happened to you yesterday?"

"Nothing really." Solo shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well whatever, so what did that scientist want with you?" the boy asked as they walked into the school.

"Nothing much, he just wanted to give me a tour of his personal lab." Solo replied.

"So are you entering the tournament?" asked the kid.

Solo shrugged again. "I might."

The kid laughed. "Well good luck. I've heard that a big shot virus-buster from the Satella Police is entering the tournament." Just then the bell rang.

"See you later!" Solo said as he dashed into class.

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At the end of the day, Solo didn't get onto the bus; he slipped behind some bushes and went into his EM form. Hopping on the wave road, he sped towards the dojo. He walked through the walls and reverted back to human form. "Hi Jango!" he called out.

Jango grinned. "Getting used to your new ability, huh? Well whatever, let's get started." For the rest of the days leading up to the tournament, Jango and Solo installed new security systems and put in more traps in the dojo, They even outfitted an old model combat droid named HK-47 to serve as a sparring partner for Solo and also serve as a security droid for when the house was empty.

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Finally, the day of the tournament arrived. "Let's go Solo, the tournament awaits." Jango called.

"I'm coming!" Solo yelled back as he finished putting on his disguise which consisted of a black tunic and a face concealing ninja mask. "I can't wait to try out my new Battle Cards!"

They went to the tournament and as Solo signed up, Jango went to the stands. Just as he finished signing up, a tall thin man walked up to the register and said, "I'm here to enter the tournament."

The automatic registration asked. "State your name please."

"Detective Bob Copper of the Satella Police." The man replied. Solo gasped and the man turned, "Entered in the tournament as well?" Copper asked.

Solo nodded as he looked at Copper, he had brown hair, a thin face, and was wearing a long light brown trench coat. "Yes I'm Murian." He said, "I heard a rumor that an officer of the police would enter but I didn't believe it."

Copper laughed, "Well, I wish you good luck today." They walked into the waiting room where a small group of people was gathered. Solo looked at the match ups and saw that everyone was going to take on three viruses called Mettennas. They were viruses that looked like little black balls with eyes; yellow feet, wearing a yellow hard had, and carried a pickaxe that they used to send out small shock waves. They looked harmless, but you had to take them seriously, because they could do serious damage. Solo also noted that each contestant would battle them, alone at separate times, one after the other. There were eight contestants in the tournament and Solo noticed that he was last in line.

A loudspeaker called the first contestant and she walked through a large door onto the field. Solo sat down and opened up his transer. He looked at his arsenal. "Wow," he whispered as he looked at the cards, "These cards are amazing!" His Battle Cards were unlike any he'd ever seen before, the Battle cards were thirty in total, the same as the set limit, but they were powerful. The list was this:

1. Radar Missile X (Launch homing missiles at enemies)

2. Mad Vulcan X (Shoot Vulcan gun at enemies)

3. Jet Attack X (Piercing attack that goes right through enemies)

4. Buzz Saw X (Throw Buzz Saw at enemy)

5. Impact Cannon (Canon attack that knock enemies back)

6. Windy Attack X (Use a giant fan to blow enemies away)

7. Piranha Kiss X (Piranha's attack enemies from all directions)

8. Bushido X (Use sword to slice enemies)

9. Black Ink (Shoot ink into enemy eyes to blind and damage them)

10. Hurricane Dance (Spin rapidly and damage enemies around you)

11. Sword Fighter X (Rapid sword attacks that slice and dice enemies)

12. Breaker Saber X (Sword that can break through any barrier)

13. Mechanical Flame X (Use flamethrower to torch enemies)

14. Beast Slap X (Use claws to shred enemies)

15. Flame Axe (Use flame covered axe to slay enemies)

16. Freeze Knuckle (Punch that freezes whatever it hits)

17. Electric Slash (Will paralyze hit enemies for a short time)

18. Life Aura (Absorbs damage up to a certain amount)

19. Drill Arm X (Arm drill that pierces enemies)

20. Shuriken X (Throw 3 shuriken at enemies)

21. Ice Grenade (Lobe grenade that freezes all in blast area)

22. Muramasa (Sword damage: as much as you are hurt)

23. Flash strike X (Electric attack that temporarily blinds foe)

24. Stealth Laser X (Launch mini stealth plane to shoot enemies)

25. Thunder Head X (Dragon head that launches lightning at foes)

26. Skull Arrow X (Shoot enemies with bow and arrows)

27. Wide Wave X (Launch a wide wave of water at enemies)

28. Spin Blade X (Throw a sword at enemies)

29. Black Hole X (Sucks weak enemies in and destroys them)

30. Mu Tech X (Cube that launches strange beam at enemies)

As Solo looked he also found an equip ability that was labeled "For EM Battles only" the ability was called "Mu Barrier". The description of the ability said that an impregnable shield was generated around the user and was regenerated each time the person used an attack of any kind. Solo was so absorbed by his new Cards that he almost didn't hear the loudspeaker say: "And now for our final contestant today, a mysterious boy with unknown skill! Let's hear it for MURIAN!" (Solo and Jango had decided to use a code name for safety's sake.) There were loud cheers from the stands.

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Solo walked out onto the field and took up a ready stance as the announcer yelled out. "Let the battle BEGIN!" The crowd cheered and yelled.

Three mettenas appeared on the field. Solo sprung into action using his new Battle Card: Back Hole X. Before the mettenas could move, a small black hole appeared beneath each of them and sucked them in, deleting them instantly.

Everyone was stunned. None of the other contestants had deleted the mettenas this fast. Then the announcer said over the loudspeaker, "Well look at that! Our last contestant is the quickest to finish off the viruses. What else does this mystery contestant have in store for us?" The crowd began to cheer as Solo walked back into the waiting room.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

There were only three other contestants left besides him and one of them was Detective Copper. "So kid you, survived round one. Well we'll see just how good you are in the next round." The loudspeaker called out Detective Copper and he went out onto the field. He came back in about five minutes later with a grin on his face. The loudspeaker called one of the other contestants who didn't return and then the other who also did not return. The losers of the tournament left by a different route. The loudspeaker called Solo's fake name and he went out onto the field. As he took his stance, three more viruses appeared. This time the viruses were Booms. They looked like muscular fighters with flaming fists that moved around by jumping. This time, Solo used his Wide Wave X card. Once again all three viruses were deleted before they could move.

The announcer said, "Amazing! This truly is a sight to see folks. And now for the final event: A duel between Detective Bob Copper of the Satella Police and the mysterious boy, Murian!"

The crowd cheered wildly as Solo walked to the other side of the field and waited as Copper walked to his side. On the screen above the field, their life points were shown, each started out with 1000 health points. The crowd was silent, holding their breath as the announcer yelled, "Let the duel BEGIN!"

As the announcer was yelling this, Solo and Copper attacked, Solo used his Mad Vulcan X which hit Copper, square in the chest, before he could move out of the way. On the overhead screen, Copper's life points dropped to 850. Copper countered with a Heavy Cannon Battle Card. Unfortunately for Copper, the shot missed. Solo had already moved out of the way and had activated another card, this time it was the Flame Axe. A giant battle-axe appeared in Solo's hands. The axe was covered in flames but it emitted no heat. Copper played another card. An energy sword appeared on the top of his wrist. With a loud battle cry he charged. Solo also let out a yell as he charged. Solo and Copper struck each other at the same time. Solo's life points dropped to 920, Copper's life points dropped down to 600. As Copper turned, Solo was already using his Wide Wave X card. Before Copper could react, he was struck by a wave of water dropping his life points down to 510.

Copper grinned, he hadn't had this much fun in years, "You're good kid," he admitted out loud, "But this fight is just getting start… OOF!" he said as Solo used his Impact Cannon, sending Copper flying back and dropping his life points down to 370. Solo said nothing as he activated another Battle Card. This time he once again used his Mad Vulcan X and struck Copper full in the chest, dropping his life points yet again down to 220. Before Solo could activate another card, Copper again used his Heavy Cannon which struck Solo in the leg, bringing Solo's life points down to 770 and knocking him to the ground. As Solo started to stand up, Copper activated another Battle Card. A Wide Wave 3, the blast hit Solo and knocked him down again, as well as decreasing his life points to 610. Copper laughed, "This is almost too easy! Not so cocky now, are you?"

Solo jumped up and activated his Black Hole X card. A black hole opened under Copper and drained his life points down to 0. Copper dropped to his knees, stunned; almost nobody had ever defeated him in a battle before. Even those who had bested him had never done it so quickly. The crowd went wild with cheers as the announcer declared the results. Solo walked over to Copper and extended his hand. Copper smiled took it, and rose to his feet. Copper bowed to Solo as the announcer came out onto the field carrying the prize of $10,000. He handed the prize to Solo, turned to face the crowd, and asked, "Murian, do you have anything you want to say to the crowd?" but there was now answer except a small bang. The announcer turned to find a cloud of smoke where "Murian" had been standing. The smoke cleared and the mysterious boy was gone, in his place was a log!

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Solo was in his room when Jango arrived. Jango glanced at the zenny's on the table and sighed. He walked up to Solo's room and found him on the computer, totally immersed in his work that he didn't seem to hear Jango come in. "And just what are you doing?" Jango asked.

Solo jumped and turned to face him with a sheepish look on his face, "Nothing much." But the stern look on Jango's face didn't waiver. "Alright, I just finished changing my name on the school records."

Jango was not impressed. "And why would you do that?"

Solo shrugged, "I'm no longer "Jack Martin". I am Solo!" he declared.

Jango's face softened, "Your parents would be proud of you, Solo. You won a tournament with close to no experience in battling and you've accepted your real name." Solo smiled with pride. "But you did hack into the school network, so to make up for that breach of conduct, I want you to cut and stack all of the firewood outside." Solo groaned as he heard this. Jango smirked, "Go on. Get going."

About five hours and many sore muscles later, Solo staggered inside. "I'm done Jango!" He called as he walked into the kitchen. Jango was sitting at the counter.

"Sit down, Solo." Jango said and as Solo complied, Jango suddenly started to hack and cough.

"Are you alright?" Solo inquired as he quickly moved to Jango's side.

Jango shook his head wearily. "No, I guess I should tell you."

Solo was confused. "Tell me what?"

"I'm dying." Jango replied.

"What! You can't die Jango!" Solo exclaimed.

"We all die at some point." Jango shrugged, "When I do die, you are going to inherit my dojo and what money I have. So take care of yourself after I'm gone." Jango started to hack and cough again.

Solo sprang to his feet. "I'm taking you to a hospital!" he said and half pulled, half dragged Jango outside where Solo shouted, "MATERIALIZE, CAR!" And suddenly a red car appeared. Solo pushed Jango into the passenger seat and hopped into the driver seat. He secured his father figure before turning to the controls. "Take us to the nearest hospital!" He demanded. The car beeped once and turned on and automatically drove to the hospital by itself.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

At the hospital, sometime later, a doctor came up to Solo. There was a grim expression on his face. "It's not good, son."

Solo stiffened. "What do you mean?"

The doctor sighed and his shoulders slumped. "I've never seen anything like it. What ever it is that he's got, it's slowly shutting down his entire respiratory system and it's also slowly paralyzing his body. Now we might be able to save him, but there are no guarantees."

Solo nodded. "Please, do what you can."

The doctor smiled. "I will. I'm not about to let one of my patients die if I can help it."

Solo cracked a smile. "Please keep me informed about what's going on."

The doctor nodded. "Of course."

Solo turned and left the hospital. Instead of materializing an EM car, solo decided to walk home. Solo was passing through a back alley when he saw four tough looking boys walking towards him. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that three other thugs were closing in from behind. '_Well, well, it looks like things are about to get interesting._' He thought, grinning to himself but keeping his face expressionless.

The four ahead stopped about ten feet in front of him while the other three stopped at about the same distance behind him. One of the four stepped forward, "You're a bit out o' yer home turf ain't ya?" He said with a sneer. "Ye're either real brave or real stupid ta trespass on da Purple Dragon's home turf."

Solo replied, "Oh, this is rich. Even the slum boys are trying to shake people down now."

The thug leader snarled, "Tha' remark's gonna cost ya kid. In da next five minutes, if ya ain't the sorriest piece of shit, you'll definitely be the bloodiest."

Solo smiled, "We'll see about that. Whenever you're ready." He dropped down into a ready position.

The thug leader snarled as pulled out a knife and charged, "GET 'IM BOYS!" All of the other thugs pulled out knives as they ran at the seemingly defenseless boy. In a flurry of hands and feet, it was over.

All seven lay on the ground moaning in pain, the leader however managed to stagger to his feet as Solo dusted himself off. Although his right arm was causing him considerable pain, he managed to pick up one of the fallen knifes and point it at Solo, who walked over and in a swift, fluid motion, plucked the knife out of the thug's hand.

"Had enough?" Solo asked quietly looking down at his helpless foe. The other boy nodded, "Now listen carefully. If you stop acting like common thieves and leave people alone, this goes no farther. However, if anything like this happens again, I'm sure the police would be very interested in your activities. Do we understand one another?" The boy nodded clutching at his right arm. "Good, now come with me and let's get you guys patched up." He extended his hand.

Not believing what he was hearing, the boy grasped Solo's hand asking, "What are ya doing?"

Solo smirked. "I'm trying to help you."

"Why?"

"Do I need a reason to help other people?"

"But why're ya helpin' people dat jus' attacked ya?"

"I might need your help as an underground group later on, but for now let's get you guys to my house." said Solo as he led the bruised and battered kids back to the dojo. Soon he led the ragtag group inside where he patched them up. "By the way, I never got your names." he said as he finished putting the leader's arm in an improvised sling.

"Name's Geo." The kid replied, then turned to the rest of the gang, "Well, tell 'im yer names."

One of the gang who had a small cut on his arm spoke up, "I'm Jed."

A second kid who was holding a tissue to his nose said, "Name's Terry."

"Tony," spoke up the youngest boy who was walking with a limp.

"Jack." said a boy with a black eye.

"I'm Sid," said a young looking boy who was rubbing his shoulder.

"Name's Fred." said the last boy who had bruises on his right arm.

"Nice to meet you. Now Geo, keep that arm in that sling for a few days and it should heal fine." Solo said as he put away the Medkit.

"What's your name then mister?" asked Tony.

"My name's Solo." Solo replied. "Tell me something, why were you trying to rob me? What would your parents think?"

"We ain't got any parents." Sid said, "We're all orphans."

Dan spoke up, "Yeah, ah found all of em an' took care of em, but livin' on da street's tough for kids."

"Oh, I see," Solo said slowly, "Where do you live now?"

Terry spoke up. "An abandoned building or at least we used to."

"Used to?" Solo inquired.

"It got torn down 'bout two days ago." Fred replied. "Say, where're yer folks Solo?"

"Dead, I live with the sensei of this dojo, Jango Martin," Solo said as he leaned against the wall.

Geo's head snapped up. "Yer kiddin'!" he exclaimed.

Solo shook his head. "Nope, not kidding, why?"

"Ah've heard that he used ta be the leader of an ol' gang a long time ago." Geo said. "He disappeared 'bout seventeen years ago. Word on da street was dat he was dead."

"What do you mean?" Solo demanded.

"His gang was some sort of vigilante gang." Geo replied. "His gang would take out th' other gangs an' vanish before the cops showed up. But somethin' happened that made 'im vanish."

"What happened?" Solo asked.

"No one know fa sure, but way ah heard it was that some new gang moved in and wiped em out. Rumor was tha they had some kinda new weapon or somethin'. Beyond that, ah can't say." Geo concluded.

"Hmm." Solo mused, "So what are you going to do now?"

Geo sighed heavily. "Ah don't know. Ah jus' don't."

Solo thought for a moment, "I've got an idea."

Geo looked at him. "Ya do?"

Solo nodded. "Why don't all of you stay here for a bit?"

Geo shook his head. "Tha' wouldn' be right. Ah don' like th' idea of takin' charity."

Solo smirked. "Who said anything about it being free?"

Geo stared with a curious and slightly fearful expression on his face. "Whaddya mean?"

Solo gestured around the dojo, "I need some help to run this place. If you stay, you'd have to help me with stuff like cutting wood, cleaning the dojo and stuff like that. In return, you all would have a place to stay, food to eat, and a chance to start over. At least until you decide to move on. How about it?"

Tony piped up, "I'm staying!"

Sid nodded, "Me too."

"Count me in!" exclaimed Terry.

Fred shrugged, "Why not? I'm in."

Jed said, "Sounds good ta me!"

Jack also nodded, "I'm stayin' too."

Geo looked around at his friends and sighed grinning, "Ah, what the hell, Ah'll stay too."

Solo nodded, pleased. "Good, now your work begins tomorrow, so get some sleep."

Tony looked around the dojo and asked, "But mister, where are we going to sleep?"

"Just call me Solo. As to your question, I have some extra mats and blankets for those of you who are older. Tony, you and Sid will share my room. But before any one goes to sleep, you're all taking showers!" Solo declared, "If you're gonna live here, you will at least be clean every day." Groans of protest greeted this statement, but Solo managed to get all of the ruffians to get themselves cleaned up in the end. Afterwards they were all dressed in some of Solo's old clothes. Remarkably, everyone managed to find something that fit. With Fred and Terry's help, Solo set out five mats and blankets for the five older boys to sleep on. After this task was completed, Solo managed to cook dinner while his guests cleaned the dojo floor. After dinner, which was eaten by Geo's gang like a pack of starving wolves, the doorbell rang.

"Now who could that be at this hour?" Solo wondered aloud as he walked to the door and opened it. Two men in Satella-Police uniforms were standing outside.

"Hello," said one of the officers. "Can we speak to the head of this establishment, please?"

"He's unavailable at the moment; I speak for him in his absence." Solo replied, "Now what can I help you with?"

The two men glanced at each other then the officer who'd spoken before explained their reason for knocking on the door. "We received a tip that this was a gang hideout, can you think of any reason why this charge was filed?"

Solo laughed. "Gang hideout? This is a simple martial arts dojo. Anybody who claims it to be otherwise must be crazy."

The officers didn't look amused. "Our tipper was very specific. The tipper said that someone smuggled in seven rough looking kids into this place about two hours ago."

"There are eight boys here, sir but none of them are gang members. Any way, do you have any proof that these so-called gang members were involved in any illegal activity? Because if you don't, then don't waste your time and mine." Solo snapped.

Startled, the two officers exchanged another glance. "Well, our tipper claims that the gang was dressed in ragged clothes, carried knives and threatened the tipper just as they entered this establishment." The second officer said uneasily.

"Then your so-called tipper lied. None of the people here carried knives here or threatened anyone." Solo said, who was getting annoyed by this time. "I suggest you go find out who your tipper is. Good night!" Solo closed the door. Worried he rejoined the group who was just finishing cleaning up the pots and pans.

"Who was dat, Solo?" Geo asked.

"The police." Solo replied.

Silence fell over the group, finally Geo spoke up. "What are we gonna do now, if we stay it'll be trouble. But if we leave, we'll be picked up by da cops."

Solo sighed. "I don't know, the police said that someone tipped them off."

"We was watched!" Jed exclaimed. "We gotta make tracks, now!"

"You're right, but only six of us be leavin'." Geo said.

"What do you mean, Geo?" Tony asked.

"Ah mean dat yer stayin' here Tony." Geo replied. "Life on da streets ain't fer ya. Solo can ya look af'er Tony fer a while?"

Solo nodded. "Yeah, but what about the rest of you?"

Geo smiled. "Ah got another place to stay until we figure out how to make some Zennys."

Solo sighed. "You'd better leave now before anyone else comes callin'"

Geo nodded and turned to Tony. "We'll check up on ya every now an' then, Solo'll look out fer ya until we get a foot hold on life."

Tony shook his head. "NO! I'm going with you, I ain't gonna be separated from the group!"

Geo sighed knowing that Tony was the most stubborn boy he knew. "Alright Tony, Yer with us. We'll drop by once in a while, Solo."

Solo nodded. "Do me a favor, and keep your eyes out for anything suspicious in the underworld and in the upper world. Notify me at once if anyone is asking about me or Jango."

Geo saluted, "Will do Boss. Dragons, we're headin' out!" And with that all of the seven went out the back door.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

3 Months Later:

Solo woke up early and was finishing up cleaning the dojo when the doorbell rang. "I'm coming, I'm coming." He called.

Opening the door, he saw a girl about his own age standing there. She was tall, had blue eyes, long blond hair, and was wearing a medium length blue skirt with long stockings and expensive shoes. "Solo Martin?" she asked.

"Yes, that's me." Solo answered, "And who are you?"

"I'm Luna Springfield, grade 12 class president of Echo Ridge High School and College." She replied.

Solo sighed. "What do you want?"

"You haven't been to school in three months." Luna replied.

"So what!?" Solo demanded heatedly. "My dad's in the hospital and needs me to look after the place, and…"

Luna cut him off, grabbing his arm, started to drag him down the street, "That's no excuse!" She stated. "You need to go to school, and that's final." Her tone booked no arguments but Solo wasn't giving up. He stopped struggling when he noticed Geo and the gang following.

Right inside the school gate, Solo decided that he had had enough and used the Body-Switching technique to switch with a nearby branch and escape her steel-like grip. "I'm not going to school!" He exclaimed.

"What's going on Luna?" A small kid with black hair and glasses asked.

"Oh hi Zack!" Luna replied. "This is Solo."

Zack's eyes brightened, "Ah so this is the boy who hasn't been to school in three months due to his foster father's sudden illness, putting him in the hospital." As he said this, Zack was circling Solo.

Solo was beginning to get annoyed. "Why do you even care if I go to school or not?" He demanded.

"If Luna can get all of grade 12 to go to school, it will make her look more responsible, therefore impressing the teachers, and she'll be sure to become student body president!" Zack explained.

Solo was more than a little appalled and angry. "I'm nobody's political pawn! Leave me alone!" Solo backed up, right into another person. Solo spun around to find himself face to face with a boy who looked like he ate a lot, and appeared to be very strong.

"Hi Luna, hey Zack, what's up?" the boy asked.

"Bud! You're just in time. This one is trying to skip school and is trying to disobey an order," Luna said.

"Oh really?" Bud asked as he looked back at Solo. "No one ever disobeys your orders and they ain't gonna start now." He grabbed Solo's arms, "Listen kid, you'd better come to school, now or there'll be trouble."

Solo smirked. "I don't think so."

"Oh, yeah? No one ever disobeys an order from Luna and nobody's gonna help you escape." Bud sneered.

Solo's grin intensified as Geo moved into position. "Oh I don't know about that."

Geo tapped Bud on the shoulder. "Ah suggest dat ya leave 'im alone now."

Bud spun around. "Who are you?"

Geo didn't answer the question. "Hey, Solo, you aright?"

"Fine now that the cavalry has arrived." Solo replied.

Geo nodded and ordered. "Let go o' my frien' now!"

"Who's gonna make me?" demanded Bud.

Geo's only response was to snap his fingers and out of nowhere, the rest of the gang materialized seemingly out of nowhere, all looking like they were itching for a fight, "We are." Geo said simply, "We have ya out numbered and da gang don' like it when peopl' try an' manhandle our frien'."

"Word to the wise, don't make them angry." Solo said, "Now please let me go."

"Let him go Bud." Luna said before she turned to Solo, "I'll get you to go to school if it's the last thing I do!"

Bud let go of Solo extremely quickly. Solo nodded at Geo, who then gestured and he as well as the rest of the Purple Dragons turned and left the school grounds. Solo then backed up and turned to Luna.

"Sorry, but the odds are in my favor today, Luna." Solo smirked, "I wish you lots of luck" So saying, he turned and walked out the school gate.

"Of all the nerve!" Luna exclaimed indignantly, "I'll get him to school or my name isn't Luna Springfield!" So saying she turned and stalked into the school building leaving Bud and Zack looking at each other with concern.

"I don't know about you Bud." Zack said. "But I hope for his sake that he doesn't make her any angrier than she already is."

"I know what you mean." Bud replied. "Luna is downright scary when she's angry. I just hope that…"

**BOOOOOM! **Both of them looked at the school to see that one of the school buildings was on fire!

"What's going on!?" Zack exclaimed in fear.

"THE SCHOOL'S ON FIRE!" Bud yelled.

Then it dawned on them. Luna was inside the burning building!

"LUNA!" They both screamed. By this time a crowd was beginning to form. All watched in horror as the flames greedily ate at the walls. The few students and teachers who were inside managed to get out. Franticly, Bud and Zack searched for Luna.

"Where's Luna?" Zack whimpered as a crash came from within the burning structure.

"Oh no. She's still inside!" Bud exclaimed. As he spoke, a piece of debris came crashing down and blocked the doorway, cutting off access to the burning building.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

None of the crowd noticed a small glimmer of light behind a gate. Solo had crept behind a bush, once out of sight he yelled, "EM WAVE CHANGE! SOLO ON AIR!" There was a flash of light and Solo was in his EM Wave form. He jumped onto the Wave Road and charged into the building. Once inside, he changed frequencies to the visible spectrum. "HELLO! IS ANYONE IN HERE?" He yelled as he ran through the building.

A female voice answered him. "HELP ME!" The voice cried out from one of the rooms. Solo jumped through the wall to find Luna huddled in a corner.

As Solo approached her, she shrunk away. "What's the matter? I'm here to help you."

Luna only pointed and screamed, "LOOK OUT!"

Solo didn't turn around; he dove to one side just as a blade whistled through the air, right where Solo had been standing a second ago. Solo spun around to find himself face to face with a Musashi, a Virus that looked very much like a samurai; it wielded a single blade, and was among the most dangerous of Viruses due to its speed. Solo didn't wait for it to attack again, he held his left hand out in front of him and a sword hilt appeared in its center, grasping it he pulled out a sword. As he held it in the ready position, Solo glanced at his blade; it looked like a slim but lethal katana. The Musashi didn't wait any longer, it charged at Solo raising its sword to cut him down.

Meanwhile, Luna watched the two duelers with a mixture of horror and fascination. She was terrified by the Virus, but also fascinated by the appearance of a boy dressed in black who was amazingly driving off the virus. '_Who is this boy?_' She wondered. Just then there was a loud crack from above her, she looked up to see that a section of the ceiling, weakened by the fire, fall down, and she was under it! Luna screamed, shut her eyes tightly, and waited for the end.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

At the same instant that he heard the crack, Solo slashed through the Musashi and cut it in two. He turned around and saw what was happening, and didn't stop to think; he ran and dove at Luna.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Luna felt arms wrap around her, then a strange sensation all over her body, then a voice said, "You alright?" She opened her eyes to find herself looking right into the face of the boy who had fought with the Virus. Blinking she looked around; she was outside of the school in the arms of her mysterious rescuer. "You know, you can let go of me now," The boy said, voice tinged with slight amusement.

Luna let go and blushed as she asked, "So you single handedly saved my life?" The boy nodded and held out his hand in front of his face. '_What is he doing?_' Luna wondered. As if to answer her unspoken question, the boy suddenly held up his sword and before Luna could do anything to stop him; he put the sword through his hand! Only it vanished instead of coming out of his hand.

"LUNA!" Both of them turned to see Bud and Zack running right at her. Both Zack and Bud stopped in front of her, weeping with happiness. "Luna, we were so worried about you!" Zack cried.

"I'm fine you two," Luna said. "So stop crying."

Bud and Zack stopped crying at once, Solo idly wondered just how they were able to do that, then Bud asked, "But how did you get out?"

"Well, this boy here saved me," Luna turned to her rescuer, only to be shoved down by him. "HEY what did you do that for?!" She exclaimed.

The boy only jumped to one side, just as a fireball crashed into the place where she had been standing. All of them looked to see a giant Koma; a Virus that looked like a Chinese dog statue, and spat fireballs. The boy punched with his right hand and yelled, "FLYING KNUCKLE!" To Luna's, Bud's, and Zack's amazement, multiple fists shot out and slammed into the Virus. The Koma uttered a scream of pain, but before it could move, the boy punched the ground with enough force that the ground cracked and shouted, "SHOCKWAVE!" A purple wave slammed into the Koma, deleting it instantly. The boy turned to Luna and held out his left hand. "You OK?" He asked. Luna nodded and accepted the offered hand. As he pulled her to his feet, the boy said, perhaps a bit gruffly, "You're lucky I was here, otherwise you wouldn't be alive." As he said this, Luna saw a Satella-Police officer running towards them.

"I'm Detective Bob Copper of the Satella-Police, and you're the source of all these crazy EM Waves!" He was pointing an accusing finger at the boy.

"Perhaps, but I'm not what caused the fire. Chalk that one up to the viruses." The boy said. "I merely saved this girl. If that's a crime, then I'm guilty of only that."

"What's your name?" Copper demanded heatedly.

Solo thought to himself, '_Well, I can't use my real name, but I am a rogue experiment, at least to Dr. Jade. Why not?_' Out loud he said, "I'm Rogue."

"Rogue huh? Well you're coming downtown with me, Rogue." Copper said.

Rogue smirked, "Sorry, not interested." He turned to Luna and said, "Try and stay out of trouble, Luna. Now if you'll excuse me, I really must be going." Copper jumped at Rogue, or at least where Rogue had been. As soon as Copper had jumped, Rogue had back flipped over him and vanished, to the astonishment of Luna, Bud, and Zack.

Luna murmured the mysterious male's name. "Rogue." She gazed at the spot where Rogue had vanished, with a dreamy look in her eyes.


	2. New Team Mates

**Chapter 2: New Team Mates**

Solo was laughing as he reverted out of his Rogue form in the dojo. "That was fun, but maybe I overdid it. Oh well, I wonder if I made the news?" He turned on the TV, just in time to see a video clip of him destroying the giant Koma. "I guess I did!" He chuckled to himself, "If Jango saw this, he'd be roaring with laughter."

On the TV, a reporter was speaking, "…unknown who the person who calls himself Rogue actually is, but whoever he is, his heroic actions saved a young girl's life. Luna Springfield was trapped inside the school and according to her; Rogue destroyed a virus and carried her out of the school as it burned around them. However, not all of Echo Ridge's residents fell that Rogue is a hero. Detective Bob Copper of the Satella-Police says that Rogue is unknown and therefore, unpredictable. He has sworn to put Rogue behind bars." Solo flicked off the TV and went to go practice his martial arts.

The next day, as Solo was finishing his breakfast, there was a knock at the back door, "Who would come at this hour?" Solo asked himself. Crossing over to the back door, Solo opened it to find Geo.

"Hi, Solo. Can ah come in?" He asked.

"Sure." Solo stepped out of the way and allowed Geo inside, "What's up?"

"Remember when ya asked me an' da gang ta keeps our ears open?" Geo asked.

"Yeah, I remember."

"We found out dat some big shot is askin' about dat symbol o' yours." Geo explained. "Me an' da gang have been tryin' to fin' out who, but so far, no luck."

"Thanks, Geo you guys are being really helpful." Solo said. "Try and find out who this big shot is, but be careful."

Geo smiled. "Will do, Boss, or should ah call ya Rogue?"

Solo froze at Geo's words. "What?"

"Only one person ah know looks an' fights like dat." Geo replied with a smug smirk. "Don' worry ah won't tell no one." And with that, Dan left leaving Solo with a stupefied look on his face.

'_Crap! How many others know?_' Solo wondered. '_I hope that Skyler and Jade didn't see that news report._' Suddenly the doorbell rang. '_What now?_' Solo thought as he went to the front door. Opening it he found Luna, Bud, and Zack standing there. '_Oh great. Not again._' Solo thought, aloud he asked, "What do you want?"

Luna answered, "I want you to come to school, but since today is not a school day, I came for another reason."

Solo was curious. "Very well. Come on in." Once they were all inside and were sitting down, Solo asked. "Now what can I do for you?"

Zack spoke up. "You heard about what happened at school yesterday, am I correct?"

Solo nodded in confirmation. "Yes, if I recall correctly, the news said that it was attacked by viruses and that somebody calling himself, Rogue destroyed the viruses."

Zack nodded. "Correct, and before he vanished, I caught a glimpse of a strange symbol on Rogue's chest, the same symbol of your dojo. Care to explain…"

Luna cut her vertically challenged friend off. "What he's trying to ask is if you know who Rogue is?"

Solo shook his head. "Never met him before." That wasn't a lie. Technically he had never met himself before.

Bud spoke up. "We went on the computer and couldn't find out anything about the symbol outside. Do you know anything about it?"

Solo nodded. "Yes I do. It is an ancient symbol. Have you never heard of the lost continent of Mu?"

Bud, Luna, and Zack shook their heads. Solo sighed a long sigh and began his explanation. "Mu was an ancient civilization that was even more advanced than our present day. Legends suggest that they had control over EM waves and could turn themselves into living EM bodies."

"Like viruses in our world!" Luna exclaimed.

Solo nodded to her. "Exactly, but for some reason the entire continent along with all its inhabitants vanished."

"What happened?" Bud asked.

"No one knows but legends suggest that a great cataclysm wiped it from the face of the Earth." Solo replied.

"What does that have to do with this dojo?" Zack demanded.

"Legends also suggest that martial arts came from Mu. Jango decided to express his belief in the old legends and used the symbol of Mu as our dojo's symbol." Solo explained before glancing at the clock on the wall. "Now if there's nothing else I can help you with, I must ask you to leave, so I may prepare to teach the few people who show up for my martial arts class."

Luna stood up. "May we watch your class?"

Solo was surprised, "Now why would you want to do that?"

"To see if we wish to join." Luna replied. "We might be able to increase your business."

Solo sighed, "I don't think of it as a business, but I guess it would be alright, on one condition."

"What's the condition?" Bud asked.

"Don't ask me about coming back to school for the rest of the day." Solo answered.

Soon, Solo and his last two students were dressed in martial arts outfits and practicing different techniques while Bud, Luna, and Zack watched with interest. "Don't focus on the hand movements so much." Solo said to his students, "Focus more on moving your center, and the rest should fall into place."

One of his students piped up. "Senpai, how are these techniques going to help us defeat an opponent?"

"Don't think of them as an excuse to hurt someone. Ever. If you want violence, go join karate. These techniques are designed more to allow you to get out of a situation. But if used correctly, even a weak person could bring down a sumo wrestler." Solo explained. At that, Bud started laughing. "You find something amusing?" Solo asked as he looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"You honestly believe that someone like Zack could defeat a sumo wrestler? That's ridiculous!" Bud laughed even harder.

Solo raised his eyebrow higher. "With enough training, Zack could easily bring you to the ground."

Bud sneered. "I can take you down without breaking a sweat!" Bud charged at Solo with his fists punching madly at Solo, only to find himself flat on his stomach with Solo pinning him to the ground. Solo had stepped off the line of attack, grabbed Bud's arm, spun around forcing Bud onto the ground, and twisted the arm towards Bud's head. The engagement had lasted less than two seconds.

"So you see how effective these techniques are in a real life situation." Solo remarked as Luna began to laugh. "Simple but effective."

Bud stood up, his face a portrait of humiliation, "I-I-I'm sorry." He stammered.

"I guess your muscles are useless after all, Bud." Luna laughed. Tears sprang into Bud's eyes as he wheeled around and ran out of the dojo, Luna and Zack's laughter ringing in his ears.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Later that evening, Bud was alone at the town park crying. Luna's words were still echoing in his ears. "I'm useless?" He asked aloud to himself. "NO, I'll show them! I'll show them all! I'll get that kid and prove to Luna that I'm not useless!"

Suddenly a voice behind him asked, "Do you want help?"

Bud spun around to see a strange sight; a red and orange bull like apparition was floating behind him, "Wh-who are you?" Bud stammered.

"I am Taurus." The glowing figure answered. "I heard what you said and decided to help you."

"Why?" Bud asked.

"I'll give you my power and together we'll show Luna your power!" Taurus replied, as if he hadn't heard the question. "Interested?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Bud, "Help me prove I'm not useless!"

Taurus nodded, "Very well."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Evening: 3 Days Later:

Solo and Geo were walking back to the dojo, "Did you find out anything on the recent destruction spree that's gone on for the past three days?" asked Solo

Geo shook his head negatively. "Nothin'. All da other gangs ain't been doin' anythin'. Their all as confused as da cops."

"Interesting." Solo mused.

"What?" Geo asked.

"All of the destroyed things had something in common from what the news said." Solo replied, "All of the items were red."

"Dat is interestin'" Geo remarked, "But what does dat tell us?"

"I don't know." Solo admitted, "See if you and the gang can dig up anything."

"Will do, Solo." Geo replied, "Uh-oh, here comes dat girl again."

Solo turned to see Luna, Bud, and Zack walking towards them, "Well, well, well." Luna remarked, "What are you doing out this late at night?"

"Ah could ask da same abou' you!" Geo snapped.

"Cool it, Dan." Solo rebuked his friend, then he addressed Luna, "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to see if your… friend here knows anything about the recent wave of destruction that's been going on for the past few days." Luna replied.

"I'm afraid that we don't have any more knowledge about it than you do, Luna." Solo replied, "How are you doing, Bud? Still think that muscles are everything?" Bud just glared at Solo. "Well good night then." Solo and Geo walked past the trio and headed down the street.

"Come on." said Luna, "Let's go home." She and Zack began to walk after Dan and Solo.

"_Now is the perfect time, Bud_." Taurus said from inside Bud's Star Carrier, "_Let me borrow your body and we'll show her just how much she needs you._"

"Show… her." Bud murmured as Luna turned around.

"Come on, Bud." She called

"EM WAVE CHANGE! BUD BISON ON AIR!" Bud yelled out as his Star Carrier's screen started to flash rapidly. There was a bright flash of light. Luna screamed when it was gone.

Geo, Solo, and Zack spun around to see a monstrosity standing where Bud had been; it looked like a bull, only it was standing on two legs that ended in hoofs, was encased in red armor on its chest and forearms, and flames were shooting out of its elbows and snout. All in all it looked like a mechanical Minotaur.

"WHAT IS THAT?" Zack screamed in fear.

"I AM TAURUS FIRE!" The monstrosity bellowed.

"Bud? Is that you?" Luna asked timidly.

"LOOK OUT!" Zack screamed as Taurus Fire punched at Luna, or where Luna had been. As soon as they had seen Taurus Fire, Solo and Geo had run full speed towards the two shocked friends. Geo tackled Luna to the ground just before the fist slammed into her, while Solo confronted Taurus Fire.

"GEO! GET THEM OUT OF HERE! I'LL HOLD HIM OFF!" Solo ordered as he jumped out of the way of another earth shattering punch.

"GOTCHA!" Geo yelled back pulling Luna to her feet, "COME ON LET'S GIT OUTTA HERE!"

"BUT WHAT ABOUT BUD?" Luna screamed.

"ARE YA CRAZY?" Geo hollered, hauling Luna away from the danger, "WORRY 'BOUT HIM LATER!"

As Geo pulled Luna and Zack away, Taurus Fire charged at Solo who nimbly jumped out of the way and landed out of sight in some bushes. However, Taurus Fire continued his charge, which put him in front of the escaping trio. "YOU"RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" He bellowed.

"BUD WHY ARE DOING THIS?" Luna screamed in absolute fear.

"I AM TAURUS FIRE!" Taurus Fire yelled. "I CRUSH ALL WHO OPPOSE ME!"

"HEY, HOTHEAD!" A voice rang out from behind the three humans. "TRY ME ON FOR SIZE!"

Geo, Zack, and Luna spun around to see Rogue standing in the street. "Rogue!" Luna exclaimed in both relief and joy.

Taurus Fire snorted out flames and jumped over the three children to face this unexpected interruption. "Who are you?" He demanded.

"You may call me Rogue." Rogue replied, seizing up his opponent. "But tell me, how is it that you possess the ability to perform an EM wave change, Bud Bison?"

"_That is my doing._" A voice said as an orange and red being appeared right above Taurus Fire, "I am Taurus."

"So you're the cause of all this. Tell me, what did you do to Bud?" Rogue inquired.

"I only gave him powers, but that girl over there is the source of his misery." Taurus explained with a mooing laugh. "Her laughter caused him to become miserable and he let me borrow his body to get revenge."

"Why exactly are you doing this?" Rogue asked, "And what are you, some new kind of virus?"

"HA!" Taurus snorted in amusement. "Don't confuse me with those weak lowlifes. I am a manmade EM being, the first of my kind. I was created to fuse with a human to become the ultimate warrior."

"What are you doing here?" Rogue demanded.

"I am here to wipe out YOU!" Taurus proclaimed, "There are others coming soon but I was dispatched first to kill an EM being called Rogue."

"Well then." Rogue said, assuming a combat stance. "Shall we get started?"

Taurus disappeared as Taurus Fire let out a savage bellow and charged at Rogue, the battle was on.

"SHOCKWAVE!" Rogue shouted as he punched the ground. Multiple purple shock waves flew at Taurus Fire. Before he could move out of the way, the shockwaves slammed into him and caused him to fall down. With a roar, he got to his feet and charged at Rogue, who somersaulted over Taurus Fire and shouted, "FLYING KNUCKLE!" Multiple fists slammed into Taurus Fire's back, sending him once again into the ground. "Had enough?" Rogue asked as Taurus Fire got to his feet.

"I WILL CRUSH YOU!" Taurus Fire screamed, "FLAME BREATH!" Flames roared from Taurus Fire's mouth and shot at Rogue who was unable to move out of the way in time to avoid the roaring sheet of flames.

Luna let out a scream. "NOOOO!" As the flames engulfed Rogue, he raised his hand as if to stop the flames.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Taurus Fire bellowed, "THAT WAS TOO EASY!"

"Are you finished?" Rogue's voice asked in a bored tone.

Luna, Geo, and Zack gasped as the flames vanished revealing a completely unharmed Rogue standing exactly where he had been with a bored look on his face.

Taurus Fire staggered back in shock. "It's not possible! How did you survive?" He stammered.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." Rogue said as he pulled out his sword, which allowed the onlookers to see that while it was indeed a katana, it lacked a hilt guard. "Ready for Round 2?" Rogue smirked

"FLAME BREATH!" Taurus Fire screamed as he sucked in a deep breath.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Rogue shouted as he quickly covered the gap that separated them and punched Taurus Fire in the stomach.

"OOOFFF!" Taurus Fire gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. He snarled and punched at Rogue yelling, "FIRE PUNCH!" Fire surrounded his fist that landed a direct hit on…. nothing!

"Up here!" Rogue said. Taurus Fire looked up to see Rogue in the air, with his sword raised to strike. "You're finished." Rogue said as his sword slashed through Taurus Fire. Taurus Fire screamed in pain as the sword pierced his body. There was a flash of light that forced Geo, Zack, and Luna to cover their eyes. When it vanished, the three saw Rogue standing over an unconscious Bud, holding a struggling Taurus by the throat. "Bud will be fine." Rogue assured them. "He just needs some rest." And with that he vanished.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Once he changed frequency, Rogue threw Taurus to the ground and held his sword at Taurus's neck. "Who sent you?" Rogue snarled as he pressed his sword into Taurus's neck, "TALK! Or I'll kill you right now."

"P-please s-spare me!" Taurus stammered.

"Then tell me who sent you to kill me." Rogue snapped.

"I-It w-was m-my creator d-doctor J-Jade." Taurus said. "Sh-she threatened to kill us all if we didn't obey her."

"So, Jade did finish her artificial EM Life Form experiment." Rogue remarked to himself. "Tell me, how many of you are there?"

"She created eight of us." Taurus replied before sighing. "So what happens now?"

"I haven't decided yet." Rogue replied studying Taurus. "What should I do with you?"

Taurus never got the chance to answer because at that moment, Detective Copper and several Satella-Police officers came running around the corner. "Damn!" Rogue cursed. "Get out of here, Taurus!"

"You're letting me go?" Taurus asked incredulously.

"GO! Head for the Dojo north of here!" Rogue snapped as he ran into the bushes.

Taurus needed no further urging; he fled away from the park on the Wave Road. "I'LL NEVER FORGET THIS ROGUE!" He shouted as he fled. "I'LL RETURN THE FAVOR SOMEDAY!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

In the cover of the bushes Solo undid the Wave Change and staggered out of the bushes as Detective Copper was interrogating Luna, Geo, and Zack while the unconscious Bud was being loaded onto an ambulance. "SOLO!" Geo exclaimed as he saw his friend. "YOU OKAY MAN?"

"I'm fine." Solo replied. "But I hit my head on a tree when I jumped out of that monster's way. By the way what happened to the monster?"

"That's what I want to know too." Detective Copper said. "Alright what happened here?"

It was Geo who answered, "Somethin' appeared ta possess da fat kid an' turned him inta some kinda monster. 'E called hi'self Taurus Fire. Jus' as he attacked us, dat guy from da news showed up an' beat tha stuffin out o' him. Then 'e grabbed whatever it was dat possessed da fat kid an' hightailed outta 'ere."

Copper looked blankly at Geo. "What did you say?"

Solo interceded on Geo's behalf, "He said that something took over this kid," He indicated Bud, "and turned him into a monster. The monster called himself Taurus Fire. Just as he attacked us, the guy from the news; Rogue, showed up and managed to defeat Taurus Fire and grabbed whatever it was that possessed Bud and vanished."

"Rogue showed up huh." Copper muttered then said. "Alright, I want all of you to come with me to the headquarters."

"Why?" Zack asked. "We haven't done anything wrong."

"Don't worry; you're not in any kind of trouble." Copper reassured them. "We just want to let your parents know what happened and have them come and pick you up."

"That won't be necessary for Geo and me, Detective." Solo said. "I live not too far from here and Geo is spending the night with me."

"Even so, I will accompany you and inform your parents about what happened." Copper said.

"My guardian is in the hospital." Solo said coldly.

"Oh." Copper said.

"Now if you will excuse us." Solo said as he and Geo began walking away. "Geo and I will take our leave." So saying, Solo and Geo left the group and headed for the Dojo.

Once they were out of sight and earshot, Solo said, "Get the gang together and meet me at the dojo."

"Will do Boss." Geo saluted and took off.

Solo Wave Changed and headed for the Dojo.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

When he arrived, Solo found Taurus waiting for him. "Thank you." Taurus said.

"For what?"

"For sparing my life when you didn't have to." The cow-like EM being replied. "I am forever in your debt."

"Come inside and we'll talk." Rogue said as he walked through the Dojo walls. Once inside, Rogue said. "We'll wait for my friends to arrive, and then we'll talk about the future."

It wasn't long before Geo and the rest of the gang were assembled inside the Dojo. Geo called out, "Alright, Boss. We're here."

"So I see." Rogue said as he and Taurus changed their EM Wave frequency so that they were visible to the gang.

Tony gasped, "It's Rogue!"

"Cool it, Tony." Geo said, "Gang meet Rogue or as we all know 'im; Solo."

The entire gang gasped as Rogue reverted back to his human form. "Thanks for the introduction, Geo." Solo said, "Gang, I'd like you to meet Taurus."

Geo gasped as he saw the cow-like EM life form. "It's that monster tha' possessed th' fat kid! What's 'e doin' 'ere?"

"Calm down, Geo. Let me explain the situation." Solo said as he sat down, indicating for the rest of them to do the same. "I'll begin with how I became Rogue…" Solo began to tell the gang and Taurus the whole story.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"And that's the situation." Solo concluded.

"Tha's some story Boss." Geo said as he leaned back in his chair, "So wha' be our next move?"

"I think the best move is for us to keep our eyes and ears open for now." Solo replied. "Taurus."

"Yes, Solo?"

"Earlier you mentioned that there were eight of you artificial EM Beings. What do you know about the others?" Solo asked.

"Well there's me for starters." Taurus said. "There's also Cygnus, Lyra, Cancer, Ophiuca, Wolf, Libra, and Gemini."

"Tell us about them, please." Solo requested as he laced his fingers together and leaned back in his chair.

"Cygnus looks like a swan and when merged with a human, can use the feathers on his wings like explosive darts." Taurus explained. "Lyra looks like a cross between a harp and a music note. She has control over sound. Cancer looks like a small crab and has control over water. Ophiuca looks like a purple snake woman. She has control over snakes and poison. Wolf as his name suggests looks like a wolf and uses large claws to shred enemies. Libra looks like a set of scales and uses both fire and water attacks. And finally there's Gemini who, when merged with a human, has two bodies and uses lightning based attacks."

Tony spoke up. "What are we gonna do, Solo?"

"Like I said before, keep our eyes and ears open." Solo replied, leaning forward, "But I think it best for the gang to stay here for a while."

Sid piped up. "But what about da cops?"

Solo smirked. "Don't worry about them. If need be, I can hide you all either here in the Dojo or up on the mountain."

Terry piped up, "Where could ya hide us all in da Dojo?"

Solo's grin widened as he stood up, "Come with me and I'll show you." Solo led the group to the Dojo living room and walked up to the corner farthest away from the doors and windows. "This is how."

Sid said. "Ah don' see anything'"

Solo smiled "Exactly, Jango and I built it that way."

"Built what?" Fred asked.

"A couple of years ago, Jango and I came across a series of hidden passages and caverns that lead from here to the mountain behind the Dojo." Solo replied, "In fact the passages have multiple exits that lead to places just outside Echo Ridge." As he talked, Solo opened a secret panel, revealing a computer panel and two strange looking devices. Solo typed in a password, placed his hand on one of the devices, and spoke into the other one, "Solo"

A mechanical voice spoke, "Password, eye scan, and hand scan accepted." A concealed doorway opened next to the computer panel as the computer panel's covering slid down concealing it once more.

"Follow me please." Solo said as he ushered the group inside and turned on a flashlight. The concealed door closed behind them with a small hiss. Solo led the group down a flight of stairs and through a passageway stopping at a large cavern.

"Why'd ya stop?" Geo asked.

Solo smiled and flicked on a light switch. "Welcome to my base." He said as the cavern lit up. The whole group gasped at what they saw; the cavern had a large computer lab in one section, a garage facing a cluster of tunnels in another, a training area in another section, and living quarters in the final section.

"What is this place?" Taurus asked in awe.

"It's a secret base." Solo answered as he led the group into the living quarters. Inside there were enough beds for ten people and a small kitchen was set in a corner. A table and chairs sat in the center of the spacious room. "Jango and I built it after I escaped from the lab where you were created Taurus."

"So you fuse with an EM Being like me?" Taurus asked.

"No, I can Wave Change through sheer will." Solo answered as he sat down indicating for the rest of the group to do the same. "It's an ability I was born with but only managed to awaken it when Jade and Skyler caught me."

"Speaking of Dr. Skyler, he left Dr. Jade's project." Taurus said. "He left after she created us."

Solo stared, "Do you know where he is now?"

Taurus shook his head, "No, but before he left, he tried to delete all the data that Jade collected from you before you escaped."

"Why would 'e do dat?" Geo asked, completely bewildered.

"I don't know." Taurus said with a shrug.

Solo sighed, "Well we'll just have to keep our eyes open. And speaking of keeping our eyes open let me show you the surveillance system that I built." Solo led the group over to the huge computer. "From here I can scan all of Echo Ridge for unusual EM activity. Tomorrow, I'll teach all of you how to use it and input your data into the system so that you can come and go as you like."

"Hey, Boss. How do ya power all this stuff wi'out any one getting suspicious?" Geo asked, scratching his head.

Solo grinned. "Jango and I built a small but powerful generator that runs off of EM Waves from stuff we got at the junkyard. In fact, everything here was built out of stuff from the junkyard."

"No kiddin'?" Sid asked.

"No kiddin' Sid." Solo replied, "Now let's get some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day. Geo, you'd better sleep up in the Dojo incase Copper comes by. Taurus, you keep watch over the Purple Dragons."

"I will guard them with my life." Taurus replied.

"Solo, we ain't da Purple Dragons no more." Geo said.

Solo and the rest of the gang look at him in shock, "Whaddya mean; we ain't da Purple Dragons no more?" Jack yelped.

"Ah'm changin' da name." Geo explained, "From now on we're da Rogue Squad."

Solo grinned. "Nice name. Alright Rogue Squad; Hit those beds. You're gonna need the rest for tomorrow." With that Solo and Geo headed out of the secret base and into the Dojo while the rest of the Rogue Squadron fell asleep on the beds while Taurus watched over them. Fortunately there were no late night callers, so the rest of the night was an uneventful one allowing Solo, Taurus, and the newly named Rogue Squad to get some much needed rest.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The next morning Solo cooked a large breakfast for his friends in the underground lair and was engaged in conversation with Taurus when a small alarm began to sound.

"What's dat?" Dan asked.

Solo hurried over to the passage that led back to the Dojo, "It's the proximity alert." He said over his shoulder, "Someone is walking up the steps to the Dojo. Geo, come with me and we'll meet this intruder. The rest of you stay here until we return." Solo and Geo sprinted through the passageway and out the concealed doorway into the Dojo living area. "Conceal door." Solo said breathlessly. The entrance sealed itself behind them just as a knock came from the front door. "Just a minute!" Solo called as he and Dan recovered their breath and walked over to the door. More knocking sounded, "Alright already, I'm coming!" Solo opened the door to find Luna standing there with a man and woman who must have been her parents. There were seven bodyguards there as well.

The man spoke in a tone of voice that was one that was used to being obeyed. "Are you Solo Martin?"

"Yes, I am." Solo replied warily.

"May we come in?"

"Certainly." Solo stepped back and allowed his guests to enter.

The man spied Geo leaning against the far wall. "Who is this?" He asked Solo.

"This is my friend Geo." Solo replied motioning Geo to come closer.

"And does this Geo have a last name?" The man asked.

Solo started to reply but Geo cut him off, "Ah can speak fer meself, Solo." He turned to the man, "Ah don't have a last name an' ah don' think it be any o' yer business if ah do or don' have one."

The man was taken aback by Geo's words. Luna spoke "What my father wishes to say is thank you for saving my life."

Geo looked at her, "Rogue an' Solo saved yer life an' mine. Ah only helped."

"But still, you helped our daughter and we wanted to thank you personally." Luna's mother said.

"Well, ya said it so wha' more dya wan'?" Geo demanded coolly.

"I was also wondering if Solo here would work for me." Luna's father said in a businesslike tone.

Solo, Geo, and Luna stared at him in shock, "Father, what are talking about?" Luna exclaimed.

"Hush Luna, I'm talking to Solo here." Her father snapped. "So Solo how much do you want for wages?"

"ARE YA OUTTA YER MIND?" Geo shouted, "WHAT KINDA MAN ARE YA?"

"Sit down, Geo." Solo said calmly. "Let me handle this."

"Yes do sit down, boy." Luna's father said haughtily, "Let Solo speak and keep a civil tongue in your head when addressing your betters."

"FATHER!" Luna exclaimed shocked at his words.

"Dear, please take Luna and wait for me in the car." Her father said, "I will join you as soon as the transaction is complete." Luna and her mother left the room. "Well Solo, how much do you want?"

"May I inquire as to why you want to hire me?" Solo asked standing up. "It seems odd to me that a man like you would have any interest in this small establishment that isn't very close to Echo Ridge."

"Very well, I understand that you are something of a martial arts protégé." Luna's father said. "I am in need of another bodyguard, but one who is capable of protecting my daughter like you did and if you want a job, I would be willing to hire you and your…. associate here to look after her."

Geo scowled and was about to say something but a gesture from Solo silenced him. "May I be blunt?"

"Yes."

"Good." Solo looked directly into his rude guest and said clearly, "There is nothing that you could possibly pay me to make me work for you."

Luna's father looked confused, "Why on earth not?"

"Because I have no wish to work for a man who thinks every man has their price. Well you're looking at one who has no price. No honorable martial artist would ever work for you. And you have the insolence to call yourself a man over Geo." Solo said forcefully, "And one more thing, if this bunch is all you've got," Solo indicated the bodyguards, "then you better reconsider who you hire, because they aren't good enough to handle me."

Luna's father's face was a storm of rage, "You'll regret those words, Boy! I gave you a chance to do the smart thing and work for me." He turned to his guards, "Get him!"

Geo looked amused and said. "Bad move." Geo stepped back as Solo dropped into a ready position. The bodyguards moved into their own ready positions as Geo opened all of the exits.

Luna's father was confused, "Why are you opening the door and windows?"

"Cause in 'bout ten seconds, yer so called guards are gonna be takin' flyin' lessons, free of charge." Geo explained as the brawl began. Solo threw one out the door and engaged the rest without breaking stride. "Dat's one." Geo observed as Solo sent two more out different windows, "Two an' three." Geo commented. Solo sent another one flying out another window, "Four." The remaining three were starting to reconsider their strategy and were warily circling Solo who had stopped moving. Suddenly, one of them lunged at Solo, who stepped to the side and sent him flying out the door into his fallen comrades, "Five." The remaining two decided to attack like wild animals in desperation. Solo contemptuously sent both of them out the door. "Six an' seven. No contest, game goes ta Solo." Geo said with a smirk as he turned to Luna's father, "Ah suggest ya leave now."

Mr. Springfield looked outraged but knew that he could do nothing about it. As he stormed out he vowed, "You'll regret not choosing to work for me."

"If you try anything, I'll see to it that that you're put in jail for your actions today, Mr. Springfield. Now I bid you good day and please learn to control your temper." Solo said as Mr. Springfield slammed the door behind him. "Now then Geo. Let's get back to the others and get you guys into the computer and get started on your training." Solo opened the secret door and the two friends headed back to the secret training area.

"So who was it Boss?" Terry asked as Solo and Geo entered the base.

"No one special." Geo replied carelessly, "Jus' some guy tryin' ta buy off Solo."

"WHAT?"

"Cool it Terry." Solo advised as he sat down at the computer and began to type, "It's over so now let's concentrate on getting you guys in the computer so you can come and go without needing my help." Solo scanned each of the Rogue Squad's hands, eyes, and voice patterns into the computer. The whole process took about half the morning. The rest of the morning was devoted to training the Rogue Squad basic martial arts. All were eager students and made remarkable progress in the short time the trained until lunch. Solo called an hour long break for lunch.

"'ey Solo."

"What's up Geo?"

I was jus' wonderin'; what is dat?" Geo indicated a large, sheet covered object in the garage portion of the base.

"Thanks for reminding me; that's a special project of mine." Solo replied as he finished his meal.

"But what is it?"

"It's a mode of transportation for me in my Rogue form." Solo said with a smile.

"But in your EM form, you could always just use the Wave Road." Taurus said scratching his head.

"True, but what's the fun in only disappearing all the time?" Solo asked with a grin, "Besides, I want to see Detective Copper's face when he realizes that he'll be able to chase me through the streets. This transportation is nearly done so I want to try it out."

"Can we see it?" Tony piped up.

"Sure. I'll show you after you all finish eating." Solo replied. After everyone finished lunch and cleaned up, Solo took the sheet off the object and said proudly, "Here she is."

The Rogue Squad and Taurus gasped; the "object" was a sleek motorcycle. While they admired it, Solo gave them a summary of his creation: The bike had 20" front and rear tires, and was powered by a high-performance, single-cylinder engine - geared toward the lower end for faster acceleration, with no exhaust whatsoever, and was powered by a large Sun Crystal (A rare gem stone that has unique properties of acting like a rechargeable solar battery (It had been a gift to Solo from Jango on his tenth birthday)). The bike was steered by handle bars that were positioned low, vertical, and close to the front wheel, and the rider's arms were protected by small shields. Two foot pegs were set 3½ feet apart on either side of the tank, which the rider lies on, belly down. The bike was armed with grappling hooks, EM cannons, EM machine guns, and a Battle Card input machine. A cloaking device was installed inside frame of the bike so that when activated both rider and bike were completely invisible to the naked eye (A thermal scanner would render this concealment useless however). The bike's engine was built to produce little to no noise when the Stealth Mode was engaged. "What do you think?" Solo asked the group.

Geo whistled, "Man, dat's a sweet ride. 'ow fast can she go?"

"I haven't tried her out yet so I don't know yet." Solo replied, "But I'll be able to tell you after today."

"'ow's dat?"

"I'm gonna take her out for a spin as soon as I make some final adjustments." Solo grinned as he grabbed a couple of tools and went to work telling the group to run through the warm up exercises that he had shown them earlier. About two hours later, Solo had just finished his adjustments and called for the Rogue Squad to stop when an alarm sounded from the computer.

"Wha' be it, Solo?" Geo asked worriedly, "Another "Guest"?"

"No, it's the EM Virus Alert!" Solo shouted over his shoulder as he jumped into the chair in front of the computer. Solo hit a few keys and a map of Echo Ridge popped up with a flashing red dot near the mansion district on the outskirts of the other side of the city. "Looks like a large amount of Viruses have shown up in the real world." Solo said as he jumped out of his chair and sprinted for the bike. "Taurus, Geo all of you stay here! We'll keep in touch via the computer terminal."

"Right, Boss! Good luck!" Geo called as Solo EM Wave Changed, hopped on the bike and took off with a roar.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Luna and her parents had just arrived home after eating lunch at an expensive restaurant, and Luna was engaged in an argument with her father about his actions at Solo's house. "…trying to hire a boy my age is not legal dad!" She exclaimed.

"Be quiet Luna!" Her father snapped, "I tried to hire him so that what happened last night does not happen again! And furthermore young lady…"

_**BOOOOOOOM**_

All three turned to see a hoard of Viruses attacking the remains of their limousine and some were advancing on them! The hoard was a mixture of many types of Viruses from Mettaurs to Musashis, Komas to Roadsters (One wheeled motorcycle like Viruses that shot flames from their exhausts) and many others as well. "Wha-what's going on?" Mr. Springfield stammered as the hoard closed in.

"V-v-viruses in our world!" Luna stammered.

Suddenly a voice rang out, "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE, MISS SPRINGFIELD!" Both the Springfield family and the virus hoard looked up to see Rogue standing on top of the mansion's doorway.

"ROGUE!" Luna shouted with joy, "YOU'VE COME TO SAVE ME!"

Rogue flipped down into the center of the circle of Viruses surrounding the Springfield family and said, "You'd better stay down." As he drew his sword out of his left hand, the Virus hoard started to tighten the circle around them.

"Who are you?" Mr. Springfield asked shakily.

Rogue cocked his sword into a combat stance and said, "We'll talk after I've dealt with the little matter of this Virus hoard." With that he vanished. About a second later, the first two lines of the circle of Viruses shattered, then another two lines, and another two lines. A pair of Musashis managed to slip in and raised their swords. Luna shrieked as the blades descended. Suddenly there was a flash of light and Luna's family saw Rogue standing in front of them; blocking the Virus' blades from cutting them. "I'm getting tired of this crap." Rogue said as he forced the blades back and destroyed the two Viruses with one slash. Punching the ground, he shouted "SHOCKWAVE!" Several waves of purple light deleted an entire section of the hoard. More Viruses filled in the large gap and continued to move closer. "FLYING KNUCKLE!" Rogue shouted as he punched forward with his right fist. Multiple fists encased in white-purple flames slammed into the Viruses, deleting a very large number of them, but even more Viruses filled the gap. There seemed to be no end to the hoard.

"WHERE ARE THE SATELLA-POLICE?" Luna's mother screamed as the hoard moved closer despite Rogue's efforts to push them back. As if on cue the group heard the wailing of sirens and saw the Satella-Police vehicles stop a little ways off.

A large number of Satella-Police officers disembarked from the vehicles and were led by Detective Copper. All of the officers carried what appeared to be back mounted vacuum cleaners. "GET INTO POSITION MEN!" Copper shouted, "SET YOUR JAMMING RAYS FOR FULL POWER!" Copper alone had no back mounted vacuum, instead he took out what looked like a rifle and placed his Star Carrier in a slot mounted on the top. "Materialize Scope!" The Star Carrier converted into a rifle scope and Copper took aim as he shouted, "READY!" The officers all pointed their vacuum weapons at the Virus hoard. "AIM!" The line of officers took aim at the hoard.

"That's our cue to get out of here." Rogue said as he put his sword away and grabbed Luna's parents, one in each arm and turned to Luna, "Grab on!"

Luna flung both her arms around Rogue's neck, "How are we going to escape?" She asked fearfully.

"Just hold on and whatever you do, don't let go until I tell you to." Rogue said and just as Detective Copper gave the order to open fire and as the virus hoard closed in, Rogue change frequencies and took all of them into the Wave World. Luna and her parents gasped as Rogue carried them to safety; behind the line of police officers and changed frequencies again, taking them all back to the Real World. "You can let go now." Rogue said as he placed Luna's parents on the ground slightly rougher than he should have.

Luna reluctantly did so, "Thank you again for saving me and my family." She said, blushing slightly.

"You're welcome." Rogue said as he started walking towards the line of Satella-Police officers. "Now if you'll excuse me, there's still a Virus hoard to destroy." With that he drew out his sword and began to run at full speed at the officers and jumped over Copper's head.

"ROGUE!" Copper shouted, surprising the entire line of officers as Rogue landed in front of the Virus hoard and charged at the few remaining Viruses that were still alive. In their surprise, the line of officers ceased fire, giving Rogue the opportunity he needed to wipe out the few surviving Viruses. Rogue slashed through the final Virus, put his sword away and turned to face an entire line of Satella-Police officers. Copper recovered from his initial surprise and shouted, "ROGUE YOU'RE UNDER ARREST! SURRENDER NOW AND LIE DOWN ON THE GROUND!"

"I'm afraid that I have better things to do then go to jail, Detective." Rogue replied and punched at the ground in front of the officers shouting, "FLYING KNUCKLE!" Multiple fists slammed into the ground in front of Copper and the line of police.

Copper shouted, "NO!" and fired a shot at Rogue just as the fists slammed into the ground and threw up a cloud of debris.

Unfortunately for Rogue, Copper's shot struck him and Rogue felt a strange sensation throughout his body. Frowning, he tried to change frequencies but was unable to change his frequency. "What the hell happened?" He asked aloud. By now Copper had run through the debris cloud and had his strange weapon pointed at Rogue.

"I shot you with a new experimental Jammer Blaster Rifle. That's what happened." Copper said with a smug grin, "You won't be able to change frequencies for a while so you won't be getting away this time Rogue."

Rogue had a confused expression on his face, "You said that it was experimental right?"

Copper nodded, "And it works perfectly."

"I'm curious, who built it?"

Copper shrugged, "Some new scientist named Skyler that came to Echo Ridge a month or so ago."

Rogue's face became clear of any emotion. "Hmmm, well thank you for your time Detective, but as I said before, I have other plans. Good bye."

"Fool!" Copper exclaimed. "Weren't you listening to me? You can't escape to the EM World for at least an hour!" By now the debris began to clear and the officers all had their Jamming Rays pointed at Rogue who broke out chuckling, "What's so funny?" Copper demanded angrily.

Rogue stopped chuckling but still grinned, "Do you honestly think that you've caught me? True I can't change frequencies but that rifle of yours doesn't stop me from escaping."

Copper's face molded into a snarl, "You don't know when to give up do you? Don't you get it? You're trapped with no way to escape."

"ROGUE!" Luna's voice rang out. Startled, Copper glanced in her direction for a second.

It was all the time Rogue needed; he started to run towards the mansion and leaped onto the roof before Copper or anyone could say a word. "GOOD BYE DETECTIVE! MISS SPRINGFIELD, TRY TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!" He called out before turning and running towards the back of the mansion.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE YOU FOOLS!" Copper screamed running towards the mansion, "GET HIM! HE CAN'T ESCAPE NOW!" Copper and the officers were about to run around the corner when the roar of an engine met their ears. "What the hell is that?" Copper asked.

As if on cue a motorcycle sped around the corner and charged at them. With yells of surprise and fear, the entire group dove to the sides as the bike passed them. Copper saw that Rogue was the rider and shouted for his men to capture Rogue, who sped around the Satella-Police vehicles yelling, "UNTIL NEXT TIME DETECTIVE!"

With a roar the bike sped away and had vanished before Copper and the officers even opened the doors of their vehicles. "I'll get you next time Rogue!" Copper vowed as he climbed into his car.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Once he was out of sight of the Satella-Police, Rogue activated the bike's Stealth Mode and headed for home. Weaving through the cars and trucks, Rogue finally turned off onto a dirt side road and headed straight down it until he came to the side of the mountain. Pushing a small button on the bike's dashboard, Rogue drove through a concealed entranceway that quickly sealed itself behind him. Rogue disengaged the Stealth Mode once he was inside and slowed down the bike to a leisurely pace. Rogue soon drove into the main cave and parked the bike in the garage. He dismounted the bike, reverted back to his human form, and walked over to the main computer where the Rogue Squad and Taurus greeted him.

"Hey, Solo, didja kill all da viruses?" Tony asked.

"How was da bike?" Fred piped up.

"'Ow many didja kill?" Sid called out.

"Were there any of the other EM beings?" Taurus asked.

"Wha' happened ta da rich guy?" Jed asked.

"Didja have trouble?" Jack asked.

"Hey now!" Geo yelled. "Le' 'im have a chance ta speak guys!"

Solo smiled. "Thanks Geo. The bike worked like a dream. I don't know how many viruses I deleted but there were no other EM beings besides the viruses that I could see. Turn on the news and let's see what Copper has to say."

Geo punched a few keys on the computer and a news report came through the speakers. The group watched as a news man spoke, "Our top story for today is the recent attack by viruses on Echo Ridge's most prominent families: the Springfield's. According to sources and eyewitnesses, the Springfield family was returning from a restaurant when they were attacked by what has been described by eyewitnesses and the Satella-Police as a Virus hoard. According to the Springfield's, the mysterious individual who calls himself Rogue appeared and single-handedly held off the entire swarm until members of the Satella-Police led by Detective Bob Copper arrived and destroyed the remaining swarm. A recorded exchange took place between the Detective and Rogue." The screen showed Copper and Rogue talking, and Luna Springfield interrupting before Rogue leaped onto the roof and escaping on his bike. "In this exchange, Detective Copper apparently shot Rogue with an experimental EM Jammer Blaster Rifle that deletes viruses but appeared to only prevent Rogue from escaping into the virus realm, forcing Rogue to escape on what appears to be an advanced type of motorcycle." The screen showed a close up of Rogue on the bike. "Detective Copper appeared to be upset that Rogue escaped him in spite of the new weapon, and was unavailable for comment. The youngest member of the Springfield family; Luna Springfield however was available."

An image of Luna and a reporter came onto the screen, "Rogue has now saved my life twice and if I knew who he was, I would love to express my gratitude in person. And despite what Detective Copper may think Rogue is not a criminal and should be-" The rest of Luna's sentence was cut off as Solo had turned off the news report.

Geo grinned. "Aw is da big hero feelin' shy?"

Solo punched him half-heartedly on the shoulder, "Ah shut up Geo. You know that girl is crazy about Rogue."

Geo was still grinning, "So what're ya gonna do? Meet da girl an' tell 'er dat yer really 'er 'ero Rogue?"

"That would not be smart." Taurus commented.

Solo sighed. "I think that it would be best if Rogue laid low for a while unless a serious problem comes up."

"Like if one of my fellow EM beings showed up?" Taurus asked.

Solo nodded. "Yeah, although I really don't want to have to destroy them."

Geo was confused and voiced it. "Why in hell not?"

"Taurus changed sides; maybe the rest of them could too."

'I wouldn't count on it." Taurus said slowly, "I'd say that a few of them would fight to the death to kill you."

"Any way I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. By the way Taurus, Dr. Skyler is in town."

"WHAT?"

"Guess who created the new Jammer Blaster Rifle that Copper was using."

"So what do we do now?"

"I'd better pay him a visit as Rogue and find out what he's up to." Solo said with a deep sigh. "By the way, why didn't you contact me during the hoard's attack?"

"Ah trahed ta call ya but it wouldn' connect." Geo said apologetically.

"Well no matter." Solo said. "I guess I need to work a bit more on the communications part of my Transer."

"Um sensei?" Tony asked.

"I'm not a sensei yet Tony just call me Solo." Solo replied. "But what did you want?"

"Why don't you have a Star Carrier instead of that old thing?"

"It has sentimental value." Solo said as he walked over to a storage closet. Opening it, he removed a robot. "Hey Taurus!"

"What is that?" Taurus asked.

"It's a robot I built to help me train as Rogue." Solo explained, "Taurus, can you take over machines and control them?"

"Sure but I won't be able to use any of my abilities"

"Not to worry." Solo said carelessly, "Jango and I built it so that viruses could use their abilities if one took it over."

"Ain't dat dangerous, Boss?" Dan exclaimed in alarm, "What if a virus took it over an' scrammed?"

Solo smiled, "It can't leave this base without self destructing. Anyway the bases own defenses would keep it from escaping unless the security system was disengaged in both the 'bot and the base. Taurus, please take over the 'bot and we'll get started."

Taurus obliged and in a flash of light, Taurus Fire stood before them. "Amazing! I don't think Dr. Jade even thought of this." He said examining himself as Solo Wave Changed into Rogue and the two of them stood in the training area as Dan and the rest of the Rogue Squad watched.

"Ready Taurus?"

"I'm ready Rogue!"

"Then let's get started. SHOCKWAVE!" Rogue shouted and sent out the purple ground waves and the battle was on.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The battle lasted an hour due to Taurus Fire and Rogue, trying not to destroy the base, holding back. The battle finally ended with Rogue knocking Taurus Fire off his feet and holding his sword to Taurus Fire's neck. "Nice moves Taurus." Solo said as he reverted back to his human form and Taurus came out of the robot. "You've improved since we last dueled."

"Well I picked up a few things from watching you teach." Taurus said.

"Good." Solo said as he started walking up the base's stairs to the Dojo, "Now I know that my friends can defend themselves in case of an attack."

"But Boss!" Geo protested as he hurried after Solo. "Wouldn' it be better if we had some hardware?"

"What do you mean?" Solo asked puzzled.

"Shouldn' da Rogue Squad ha' some weapons. Dem fightin' moves ya taught us won' work on dem guys' dat you an' Taurus can kill."

"Unfortunately the only people who have such weapons are the Satella-Police." Solo replied as they walked up the passageway.

"Wha' about da bike's guns?" Geo persisted.

"Those were designed to run off the bikes systems." Solo explained, "I don't know how to make hand held EM weapons."

"Wha' about dat guy Skyler?" Geo asked. "'e made dat weapon fer da cops dat shot ya."

"Bad idea."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know if Skyler can be trusted." Solo said sharply, "Remember he was on Jade's side when they kidnapped me."

"But Taurus said dat 'e scrammed an' dat cop said dat Skyler was da one who made da weapons fer da cops now. So why doncha pay 'im a visit an' get 'is side o da story?" Geo asked. "Af'er all ya will be prepared in case 'e trah's any backstabbin'."

Solo sighed as the two exited the secret passageway. "All right, I'll pay him a visit tomorrow. But for now I need some sleep. Wake me if anybody comes unexpectedly."

"Will do, Boss." Geo said as he closed the secret door and Solo headed up to his room.

Around two hours later Solo woke up to a beeping coming from his Transer. With a yawn he opened the communications function. "What's up?"

"Solo someone is heading for the door, better get downstairs fast." Sid's voice came out of the speakers.

"Thanks Sid." Solo jumped out of the bed and raced downstairs. As he jumped down the stairs he saw Geo peeking out the window. "Who is it?"

"No clue." Dan said, "But ah'd hide dat hair o' yers 'cause two people are comin' up da steps an' one o' dem has a camera."

"Damn!" Solo cursed as he ran back up the stairs and put on his martial arts face mask (Fortunately he had fallen asleep in his martial arts clothing so the mask would not be out of place). Leaping down the stairs and running into the training area, Solo powered up the combat droid HK-47 and hurriedly called out, "Activate primary program!" With a hum the droid came to life. "Geo, get the door please!" Solo called out.

Geo opened the door to see a young woman holding a microphone and a cameraman standing behind her. "Who're you an' waddya want?"

The woman smiled, "Hello, my name is April Vale. I'm a reporter with the Echo Ridge News Team. Are you Solo Martin?"

Geo scowled. "No an' ah don' think dat 'e wants ta talk ta any reporters at da moment."

"Why's that?"

"Come in and find out, but keep dat camera off till Solo gives da okay, otherwise clear out." Geo led them to the training room as Solo in full martial arts gear faced off against a tall man dressed in ancient armor and holding a sword.

"I'll be with you in a moment." Solo said without taking his eyes off the droid, "Alright let's get started. Even though we both know that I'm going to win."

The man replied in an odd voice, "On the contrary, I will finally fulfill my mission today."

Solo responded by drawing out his own sword and saluted the droid, "Whenever you're ready."

The man responded with a snarl and leaped at Solo. The duel progressed for about two minutes with both the man and Solo attacking and defending. The duel ended when Solo knocked the man's sword up and stabbed him through the chest. April gasped as the man's image flickered and vanished revealing an old style combat droid. The droid fell down as it's hologram vanished and Solo started to walk over to his guests when the droid suddenly stood up and said, "Master wait we're not done!"

Solo sighed and turned around, "HK, we've dueled too much, I know all of your moves."

The droid sounded injured, "Please master one more time."

"Fine."

HK-47 appeared to be pleased, "Oh good master, Now I can finally kill you!"

April gasped in horror. "He was trying to kill him?"

Geo shrugged. "What good be a fight if da opponent don't try ta kill ya?"

Solo laughed. "Don't worry, HK-47 has no tricks that I don't know about."

Now the robot chuckled. "I've saved this program for years. You've never fought it before." HK-47 activated his hologram projector. The projection was dressed in a black cloak with a hood and long wide sleeves. Its hood was up and concealed its face from view.

Solo was taken aback. "HK, what the heck is this?"

The droid answered in a soft but lethal voice that sounded almost human, "I found this in one of your father's old movie collection and decided that it would be the one to finally kill you as its style is unusual and I added some other fighting programs into it as well." The droid cast back the hood and April, the cameraman, and Dan gasped, the projection's face looked human but was covered in red and black tattoos, its eyes were yellow, and as if that wasn't horrific enough, there were small horns growing in a circle around its bald tattooed head forming a demon like crown. "Today you die, Master." The droid shed the holographic cloak which disappeared, revealing that the monstrosity wore a black battle tunic not dissimilar to the one that Solo was wearing. HK-47 drew out two swords with its black gloved hands and connected them in the center, forming a staff-sword. As if on cue music started to play from concealed speakers.

Solo warily adopted a combat stance with his sword held so that the hilt guard was right next to his head with the blade pointed at the ceiling. "Why the music, HK-47?"

"I thought that the music would add to the drama." HK-47 replied, "Your guests might want to back away, otherwise they might get hurt."

"Geo, back off he means business. I haven't seen this program before so I don't know what it can do."

HK-47's holographic face smiled but it held no warmth in it. "This is just like old times when we first began master."

"Indeed, shall we get started?" Solo asked.

HK-47 didn't give the courtesy reply, he just attacked. HK-47 spun his sword in a lethal sweep at the knees. Solo jumped and swung in a two handed overhead strike. HK-47 deflected the blow with one blade and using the momentum from Solo's strike, attacked with the other one. Solo was forced to roll away any turned just in time to meet HK's next strike. HK-47 kept up a relentless assault that forced Solo to give more and more ground.

Solo started to feel a tiny bit of dread that HK-47 might actually kill him bit forced it from his mind as he turned aside another strike that had it connected, would have severed his left leg. '_I need to get outside!_' Solo thought, '_If I stay inside, he'll overwhelm me!_' Solo managed to trap HK's blade against his own and shoved hard.

HK-47 was knocked off balance for only a moment, but it was all the time that Solo needed. Hurling himself forward like a spear, Solo leaped through the window and rolled to his feet and turned around as HK-47 leaped out the window. "Changing from indoors to outdoors was wise master." HK-47 said in the program's voice. "But it was also foolish for you only delay the inevitable."

"We'll see about that!" Solo snapped as he attacked with a diagonal strike upwards. HK-47 deflected the blow and the duel was on again. HK-47 kept up a relentless barrage of attacks and Solo did likewise, This time though neither seemed to be forcing the other to give ground but both were moving all over the yard; jumping off rocks, flipping off low tree branches, each using the terrain to avoid the other's blows. Solo blocked one of HK-47's attacks and found himself being kicked in the chest hard. Solo managed to flip himself in midair so that he landed on the side of a tree and kicked off to attack HK-47 again. Solo kept up a relentless assault and managed to cut HK's sword in half at the center and knocked the droid down, causing the droid to drop one of his swords. Solo kicked one of the swords away as HK-47 flipped to his feet. The fearsome figure that was HK's hologram didn't seem upset at the loss of one of his sword blades. The holographic face curled into a snarl and attacked. Solo smiled, now that he only needed to worry about one blade, he could relax a little. He easily deflected HK's attacks and finally knocked the sword up and stabbed HK-47 through the chest. HK-47 fell down with a cry and an electrical crackle as his hologram vanished. "WHEW!" Solo said as he wiped his brow. "You nearly had me there HK."

"I failed you again, Master." HK-47 sounded disappointed, "I shall do my best next time."

Solo helped HK-47 to his feet and the pair started to walk back to the Dojo, with HK-47 leaning heavily on Solo. "HK I think it's time to change that programming of yours." Solo said as they entered the Dojo, "Also it's time I repaired you." Solo added as the sword wounds in the droid's chest let out another crackle of electricity as Solo helped him sit down. "Power down for a bit while I take care of the guests."

"Yes Master." The droid sounded grateful as his eyes dimmed.

Solo turned to his guests who were staring openmouthed at him, "Now what can I do for you?"

"My name is April Vale." April said, "I'm a-"

"From your clothes and the cameraman behind you I'd guess that you are a reporter." Solo interrupted. "And I'd say that you want an interview with me and my friend here about that incident in the park a few nights ago."

"Yes would it be alright?"

"You have ten minutes then please leave."

April nodded and began to interview the two boys while her cameraman filmed. Exactly ten minutes later, the interview ended and the news pair had left. Dan let out a sigh, "Think we fooled 'em?"

"I think so." Solo said as he finally removed the concealing face mask that he had not removed during the interview, "We didn't contradict anything that the early reports said and remember, I was unconscious when Rogue showed up." Solo flashed a grin at Geo who smiled in return.

Geo's grin faded "Well?"

"Well what?"

Geo frowned, "Don' ya play da fool with me, Solo. When are ya gonna go see dat doc in da cops?"

Solo sighed, "I guess I'd better do it soon. I'll find him after we repair HK and change that programming of his. And after I want to visit Jango, I think it's time you and the gang met him."

Geo grinned, "Always wanted to meet a legend."

Solo grinned back, "He ain't no legend but he might be able to tell us what we should do next. Now gather the gang, we're headed for the junk yard."

A few hours later, Solo and the Rogue Squad returned to their home, each carrying an armful of metal junk.

"Phew, dat's da last o' it." Geo reported as he and the rest of the Rogue's Squad dropped their armloads of metal junk. The junk was a mismatched pile of metal and circuitry. Solo had them bring it all to the garage where he had put HK-47. The robot was powered down and Solo had the back of its head open and was working on the circuitry.

Solo looked up from his work, "Thanks gang. With all this stuff, I'll be able to upgrade the Dojo's defenses. I'm nearly done with HK here."

"Whatja' do ta him?" Jed asked.

"I changed his programming so that he won't try and kill me anymore." Solo replied as he made one last adjustment. "There, all done." Closing HK-47's head, he powered up the robot.

With a slight humming sound, the droid powered itself up and its eyes flashed. "Self diagnostic running… Self diagnostic complete… Hello master, what is your command?"

"HK I want you to use the parts here and follow these plans." Solo handed the droid a chip. "You know what to do."

"Affirmative master, I'll get to work immediately." HK-47 said as he started to scan the chip.

"C'mon gang." Solo said. "It's time you met Jango."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

About an hour later:

"And that's the situation, Jango." The small hospital room was crowded with the members of the Rogue's Squad.

"Hmm… Well I think that you should meet with this Skyler." Jango was sitting up in the hospital bed. However, he looked paler that usual and his voice seemed weaker. "But Solo, be very careful… When you test your armor, make sure that you only… have… to… test… the… front." Jango's voice trailed off and he fell asleep.

Solo stood up. "Let's go."

"Wha's wrong with 'im?" Geo asked.

"He's very sick." Solo replied. "Besides, visiting hours are almost over. We need to get home."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The group left the hospital and was making their way home when a limo pulled up in front of them, blocking their path. The window rolled down to reveal a very embarrassed Luna.

"Could I talk to you for a moment?" She asked in a small voice.

Solo cocked his head and an eyebrow at her while Geo tensed up. "Certainly, but I'd prefer it if you were outside so I don't have to bend down to talk to you." Solo said in a casual tone. Luna nodded and rolled up the window. As she did this, Solo hissed instructions to Geo. "Keep everyone on their toes."

Geo nodded as Luna stepped out of the limo. "I-I wish to apologize for my father's actions." She stuttered.

Geo looked at her incredulously. "An' why shoul' we accept yer apology?" He all but spat the words out her.

Solo moved to defuse the situation. "Cool it, Dan!" He snapped at his friend, then turned to Luna. "It seems that I now owe you an apology for my friend's rudeness."


End file.
